Jim Carrey stars in this dark cable comedy series as Jeff Piccirillo (aka Jeff Pickles), a beloved children’s TV host who takes his mission as both an educator and role model for children seriously but whose private life is coming apart. He lost a son to a car accident, is separated from his wife (Judy Greer), and is unable to reach his surviving son (Cole Allen). Jeff’s inability to express his pain and loss is taking a toll on his mental well-being. Frank Langella costars as his father, the producer of the Mr. Pickles’ Puppet Time show and manager of the brand, and Catharine Keener is his sister, who creates the imaginative puppets on the series but is frustrated both professionally and personally. The Mr. Pickles show resembles Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood with Sesame Street-like puppets, and the series—created by Dave Holstein for Showtime—plays the show-within-a-show straight, never stooping to ridicule either the public TV series or its sincere, dedicated host, played by Carrey with compassion and depth. It’s the drama around the show that is presented with black humor as Jeff’s bottled-up emotions periodically explode, and his father attempts to sustain the Mr. Pickles franchise by working around its creator. Michel Gondry, who directed Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and has a gift for surreal humor and inventive imagery, is an executive producer and directs multiple episodes. It is a smart and creative show that takes on difficult emotions and is definitely not for kids. Compiling all 10 episodes from the 2018 debut season, extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)
Kidding: Season One
Paramount, 2 discs, 290 min., not rated, DVD: $29.99 Volume 34, Issue 3
Kidding: Season One
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