Danielle Solzman
What Just Happened??! with Fred Savage has a lot of promise for what is certainly one of the most fascinating new comedies.
The new FOX comedy, starring Savage and comedian Taylor Tomlinson, is a spoof of the after-show. In this case, the show is The Flare. The fictional series is based on fictional author TJ Whitford’s sci-fi book series, The Moon is the Sun at Night.” What happens is that there’s a solar flare that affects everyone on Earth. While everyone else loses their memories, there’s only one person who remembers what happened: Chester Hastings (Kevin Zegers).
The series premiere starts off during the final scene of The Flare. Fred Savage soon introduces the after-show, What Just Happened??! Because the network requires another person to help with audience demographics, Taylor Tomlinson is introduced as his co-host. Savage brings out Zegers to talk about his role on the show and his casting tape. The series has a lot of promise but based on the interview with Zegers, it’s doubtful that we’ll be seeing him on the couch again any time soon.
As with any show of this nature, you have to keep the pace moving. They do so by having a bit where Savage tracks down Helen Mirren for a late night surprise interview. The problem is that Savage can’t get passed the gate. When he does figure out a way to do so, the rules of comedy state that he must find himself at the wrong house. The bit is fun for what it is and works during this episode.
Finally, we Rob Lowe comes to the stage. Lowe and Savage co-starred in The Grinder a few years ago. You can tell that they’re having some fun together especially when they do an “extreme interview” in monsoon conditions similar to a scene in the series. I couldn’t help but laugh when Lowe said that he’s “a character actor trapped in a leading man’s body.”
In viewing the series premiere, What Just Happened??! with Fred Savage certainly shows potential. After shows seem to be all the rave these days for the popular thrillers. It is a surprise that it has taken this long for us to see a satire of the format. The premise does make for a lot of fun and we certainly see this during the premiere. If all goes well, we’ll be watching the series for quite some time. Regardless, I want to see an actual episode of The Flare in full!
The second episode will feature Kevin Smith and Vince Gilligan as guests.
SERIES CREATORS: Fred Savage, Dave Jeser, and Matt Silverstein
