The Break with Michelle Wolf: Pilot

May 31, 2018 8:13 AM - Season 1, Episode 1

Michelle Wolf's pilot episode: Michelle does a stand up style intro, Michelle shows us she's a feminist by sitting behind a desk, then talking sports, Michelle & Amber Ruffin talk about being women who don't want children, we see a preview for the new show: Strong Female Lead

Plus commercials for the Amazon echo.

posted by Emmy Rae (17 comments total)

I liked this part in Strong Female Lead:

Escort: "What is it you do again?"
SFL: "Unclear!"
posted by Emmy Rae at 8:16 AM on May 31, 2018 [2 favorites]

I'm glad that she (and Amber) acknowledged, "Yes, this is my voice", and now I hope she never does it again.

Also, the number of times my spouse will listen to me repeat "SPORTS SMASH" is less than four.
posted by Etrigan at 8:33 AM on May 31, 2018 [3 favorites]

I really wanted to like this. I mostly did, but the audience laughter (which may have been real people but felt super laugh-track-ish to me) was annoying. Also, her fat jokes about the shitty creepy famous chef name Mario something both disappointed and angered me. It felt wrong plus cheap. I did like that SPORTS SMASH was about feminism, I loved that part. Will be interesting to see how the second episode is. Thanks, Emmy Rae, for starting this thread!
posted by Bella Donna at 9:08 AM on May 31, 2018 [5 favorites]

RE: fat jokes

Totally agree, Bella Donna. My impression of MW is that she is very serious about the idea that no one is safe in comedy. I think she calculates wrong on what is punching up vs punching down sometimes as a result. In that past some of her jokes about feminism have hit wrong as well (although IMO they are not as damaging as the fat jokes).
posted by Emmy Rae at 9:35 AM on May 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

Am I mixing this up with something else, or did she make a joke about solving every true crime podcast: "Her husband did it. Next!"
posted by Emmy Rae at 10:10 AM on May 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

I think it was part of the episode's running joke about the JonBenet Ramsey murder, not all true crime shows everywhere.
posted by Quonab at 10:53 AM on May 31, 2018

I think I missed the "Her husband did it" part but it would have made me laugh in that context. Also, that is often true so it's one of those sad, reality-based jokes. :-)
posted by Bella Donna at 11:03 AM on May 31, 2018

Hmm, but at the end she says they ran out of time for the JonBenet thing. We'll see if I get curious enough about this to rewatch.
posted by Emmy Rae at 11:11 AM on May 31, 2018

I enjoyed the hell out of Michelle and Amber together, total soulmates. I loved having them both on the same show.

Also laughed at the voices and agreed with their childfreedom.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:11 PM on June 1, 2018

I love Amber too. I hope she is on a lot, or gets her own show.

I thought it was a bit uneven for many of the reasons listed above, but I also think it was promising enough to watch again.
posted by Glinn at 4:53 PM on June 2, 2018

Definitely too many fat jokes. Aside from that though, I really enjoyed this. The cake bit had me in stitches. It's a good replacement for the Joel McHale Show.
posted by Garm at 6:48 AM on June 4, 2018

Last fall there was news about Amber Ruffin getting her own show, though I haven't heard anything about it since.
posted by grandiloquiet at 8:01 AM on June 4, 2018

I liked the first episode, I also enjoyed her stand up special a while back and the shit she said at the White House Correspondents Dinner were on point. I definitely enjoy her style and will be watching the next episodes. It's funnier than the Joel McHale thing they tried for sure.
posted by GoblinHoney at 3:18 PM on June 5, 2018

Michelle Wolf and Joel McHale's Talk Shows Canceled at Netflix.
posted by Gary at 5:46 PM on August 17, 2018

nooooo
posted by grandiloquiet at 6:26 PM on August 17, 2018

Waaaaah.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:29 AM on August 18, 2018

Well that sucks.
posted by elsietheeel at 8:30 AM on August 19, 2018