You rarely get to see stand up comedians work in television, but if there ever was one who was suited to both fields, it’s none other than our very own Fluffy, Gabriel Iglesias. By taking inspiration from his own school life, he’s created this show with himself as the lead character, to be the next big thing in the sitcom category, and while it may not be something as good as The Office, it surely has the potential to soar to huge heights while giving the audience a barrel of laughs as you keep on watching, episode after episode. Considering that this show is a sitcom, the categories for analysis will obviously be a little different, and the fact that both seasons will be incorporated into this review factors into the choice of categories.
SCRIPT WRITING
Considering that the show’s creator is one of the best stand-up comedians in the world, there’s no surprise about the fact that this aspect of the show is the strongest and very well rounded out. However what is surprising is the way that Gabe has managed to incorporate social messages into the show alongside retaining the element of comedy. The script (as well as the screenplay) is very well written, to the point that you can understand that while on the face of it, the show runs on the performances given by their star adults like Gabe and Maggie Geha, the actual soul of the show is the teenage actors that help put across the comic element along with the social awareness that Gabe wants to be sensitive towards when it comes to writing the script. Another interesting aspect is that Gabe doesn’t portray his character as inherently woke and sensitive, much like him in the real world, but at the same time he uses that character trait in the show to depict how even old school people like him who aren’t inherently sensitive, can listen to and learn from the younger generation and improve their own personalities, as is seen in the script of multiple episodes where Mr Iglesias and Marisol clash over their views on their common cultural and ethnical background and other social issues. To retain an element of comedy throughout that just goes to show how good, well thought out and innovative the script writing for this show is, and it only gets better with each season.
CHARACTER CONCEPTUALISATION
While the script writing is the main highlight of the show, the character concepts that this show has is it’s backbone. To have characters that are unique and never before portrayed in the sitcom genre is a huge feat in itself, not to mention that it takes serious courage to break away from trends set by comedy shows when it comes to character concepts, considering that these trends more than often lead to a show’s character becoming famous and loved. Mr Iglesias breaks away from those trends and relies on Gabe’s incredible comic sense and used it to create fresh characters that do nothing but keep growing on you. At the same time, with characters like Paula,Abigail, Tony and Carlos, the show does stick to certain trends as well that helps with the show’s popularity as a whole. All in all, this show has a very well balanced blend of new types of characters such as characters like Mikey, Lorenzo, Grace and Rakeem, as well as the ever popular kinds of characters like Abigail, Tony, and of course, Gabe himself.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
A lot of people don’t generally realise how important cinematography is when it comes talking about how good a sit-com is. The reason cinematography is so crucial is that comedic elements in scenes have their effectiveness dependant upon how well those very scenes are shot, not to mention the style in which they’re shot as well. To take the example of The Office once again, as we all know, a massive reason for their success as well as the overall levels of comedy achieved throughout the show. The same applies to Mr Iglesias as well, however this is one aspect of the show that didn’t benefit from sticking to trends, but at the same time didn’t lose anything either. The show has been shot in the classic format and setup with a live studio audience. A particular group of set-ups has been created and for a large number of episodes one out of those set-ups has been used to shoot a particular scene. Considering that this sitcom is based in a school, repeated set-ups and camera angles do become a necessity to an extent yes, but at the same time, the show’s plot itself does allow some room for diversification/expansion vis-à-vis set-ups and the way the scenes are shot (be it camera angles or anything of that sort), which is something that the show definitely can do with in order to improve quality further than the already impressive level the show is at when it comes to the way it’s being shot.
COMEDY FACTOR
The analysis for this category is going to be very short and for a very simple reason. This category is the bread and butter for every sitcom, and Mr Iglesias is bang on the money when it comes to the comedy factor. The different styles of comedy that you see throughout the different episodes of the two seasons proves that every episode is meant to make you laugh out loud, and it successfully does. It was important that the show got this right, as it would be the platform that they could stand on so that they could distinguish themselves from the myriad of shows in the sitcom genre, and they successfully have. Every single character is comedic in themselves and that just goes to show the quality of the comedy factor of this show, thanks in no small part to our very own and very dear Fluffy!
To close it out, I’ll simply say that if you’re a person who enjoys watching sitcoms, Mr Iglesias is a must watch.
Cheers!
Karn Kasturi Sharma
Comments