''Lady Dynamite'' is an American comedy series starring

Maria Bamford Maria Bamford (born September 3, 1970) is an American actress and stand-up comedian. Her work has drawn critical acclaim and controversy because her humor often uses self-deprecating and dark topics, including her dysfunctional family, depressio ...

, and is loosely based on her life. It was created by Pam Brady and Mitch Hurwitz, on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

. The twelve-episode first season was released in its entirety on May 20, 2016. The series was renewed for a second season on July 27, 2016. The second season premiered on November 10, 2017. On January 13, 2018, the series was canceled after two seasons.

Premise

Stand-up comedian/actor Maria Bamford (portrayed by herself) moves back to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

after spending six months away in recovery for

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

and attempts to build up her life from scratch with the help of her agent Bruce Ben-Bacharach (

Fred Melamed Fred Melamed (born May 13, 1956) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for portraying Sy Ableman in the Coen Brothers' ''A Serious Man'' (2009). He is also known for his collaborations with Woody Allen appearing in seven of ...

). Throughout the entire first season, flashbacks are employed to gain an insight on Maria's backstory and her relationships with her family and friends.

Cast

Main

as Maria Bamford, a fictionalized version of herself ** Bamford also provides the voice of Blueberry, Scott's dog *

as Bruce Ben-Bacharach, Maria's manager *

Mary Kay Place Mary Kay Place (born September 23, 1947) is an American actress, singer, director, and screenwriter. She is known for portraying Loretta Haggers on the television series '' Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'', a role that won her the 1977 Primetime Emm ...

as Marilyn Bamford, Maria's mother *

Ólafur Darri Ólafsson Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (born 13 March 1973) is an Icelandic-American actor, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for ''Children'', '' Trapped'', '' The Deep'', '' Lady Dynamite'', and ''The Secret Life of Walter Mitty''. Early life Ólafu ...

as Scott, Maria's boyfriend (season 2, recurring season 1)

Recurring

Ana Gasteyer Ana Kristina Gasteyer (born May 4, 1967) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1996 to 2002. She has since starred in such sitcoms as ABC's '' Suburgatory,'' TBS's ''People of Earth'', NBC's ...

as Karen Grisham, Maria's agent * Ed Begley Jr. with

Kurt Braunohler Kurt Braunohler (born February 22, 1976) is an American comedian and co-host of the podcast ''Bananas'' on Exactly Right Podcast Network. He was previously the host of IFC's comedy game show '' Bunk'' and has appeared on Comedy Central, ''This ...

(season 2, flashbacks) as Joel Bamford, Maria's father *

Lennon Parham Lennon Kathleen Parham (born October 26, 1975) is an American actress and improvisational comedian from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. With frequent collaborator Jessica St. Clair, she created and co-starred in NBC's ''Best Friends Forev ...

as Larissa, Maria's friend *

Bridget Everett Bridget Everett (born April 21, 1972) is an American comedian, actress, singer, writer, and cabaret performer. She has starred in the semi-autobiographical 2022 HBO series '' Somebody Somewhere'', the movie '' Fun Mom Dinner'', and in a one-hou ...

as Dagmar, Maria's friend *

Mo Collins Maureen Ann Collins (born July 7, 1965) is an American actress and comedian who was a member of the ensemble on FOX's sketch comedy series '' Mad TV''. Collins became well known for several characters during her tenure on the show. She was ...

as Susan Beeber, Maria's childhood friend *

Dean Cain Dean George Cain ( Tanaka; born July 31, 1966) is an American actor. From 1993 to 1997, he played Clark Kent / Superman in the TV series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman''. Cain was the host of '' Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' a ...

as Graham, Maria's ex-fiancé * June Diane Raphael as Karen Grisham, Maria's realtor *

Jenny Slate Jenny Sarah Slate (born March 25, 1982) is an American actress, comedian, and author. Born and raised in Milton, Massachusetts, Slate was educated at Milton Academy and studied literature at Columbia University, where she became involved in the ...

as Karen Grisham, Maria's life coach * Kenny and Keith Lucas as themselves * Yimmy Yim as Chantrelle, Bruce's assistant * Kyle McCulloch and Piotr Michael as the voice of Bert, Maria's dog

Guest stars

Background

Concept and development

The show came to be when Mitch Hurwitz approached Maria Bamford and asked her if she had an idea for a series, reportedly in 2013. Part of the pitch was telling a story about a mental breakdown. The project was no more than talks for years. Later, Hurwitz attached Pam Brady to the project to write and direct. Bamford described this process as "extremely slow". The use of nonlinear narrative in the show was part of Bamford's pitch. It is used to portray the different mental states people can go through, and also how they overcome it. In that way, the show's flashbacks serve as "a reminder of that journey." Bamford describes the show's narrative structure as "''

Bloodline Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic informa ...

'', with me." Bamford, who is a stand-up comedian, decided not to use stand-up comedy as a device in her show. When asked about her decision, she explained: "Even though that is a reasonable way of telling the story, I do have a self-conscious feeling of "I don't want to see the same thing over and over"". This decision is depicted in the pilot episode of the series.

Writing

Maria Bamford was involved in the writing process, but she did not write any episode herself. In spite of the show being based on Bamford's real life, the writers had freedom to modify her experiences for creative purposes. For example, in the pilot episode, Maria puts a bench in front of her house in an effort to promote a sense of community in her neighborhood. This idea came from Bamford's real life. Even though she did not take a hands-on approach in the writing of the series, she was in the writers' room often, to discuss ideas and "hang out" with the writers. Writing credits include Kyle McCulloch, former '' South Park'' writer, and Jen Statsky, former '' Parks and Recreation'' and '' Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' writer.

Directing

Former ''

Arrested Development The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...

'' collaborators Max Winkler and

Andrew Fleming Andrew Fleming is an American screenwriter, film director, television producer, television director, film producer, actor, and television writer. He directed and wrote or co-wrote the films '' Bad Dreams'', '' Threesome'', '' The Craft'', '' Di ...

directed episodes for ''Lady Dynamite''. Robert Cohen,

Academy award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-winner Jessica Yu and Ryan McFaul also directed episodes.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2016)

Season 2 (2017)

Reception

The first season of ''Lady Dynamite'' has received widespread acclaim from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, it has a rating of 94%, based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Maria Bamford's ''Lady Dynamite'' is a vibrant, subversive, sweet, meta-fictional ride - but also a courageous, boundary-busting and ultimately deep portrayal of a troubled psyche." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the season has a score of 85 out of 100, based on 15 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". The show has garnered attention because of its depiction of mental illness. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' described the show as " avingits own bizarre-sincere voice and its own dream logic" and "something else, in a good way: a journey to the center of Ms. Bamford's mind that dives through fantasy after loopy fantasy and emerges with something real." About the show's style, ''The New York Times'' noted that "The show's creators, Pam Brady ('' South Park'') and Mitch Hurwitz (''

''), have constructed a multipurpose fun house; we jump about in time and flit from meta-show to memoir to hallucination." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' described Bamford's performance saying that "the actress and comedian, whose presence has rarely been used as well as it is here, manages the neat trick of being both believably guileless and winningly sharp." ''Variety'' also praised the show's guest stars, stating: "the entire show gains a great deal of energy from a varied array of game guest actors, including

Mira Sorvino Mira Katherine Sorvino (; born September 28, 1967) is an American actress. She won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Woody Allen's '' Mighty Aphrodite'' (1995). She also starred in the films ...

Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...

Brandon Routh Brandon James Routh (; born October 9, 1979) is an American actor. He portrayed Superman in the 2006 film '' Superman Returns'', which garnered him international fame. In 2011, he played the titular character of the film '' Dylan Dog: Dead of N ...

, and

, all of whom appear delighted to be in Bamford's playfully serious orbit." Critics have compared the series to '' Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt'', ''

Community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

'', ''

Review A review is an evaluation of a publication, product, service, or company or a critical take on current affairs in literature, politics or culture. In addition to a critical evaluation, the review's author may assign the work a rating to indi ...

'' and '' BoJack Horseman'' because of the way it uses meta-humor, absurdist humor and how it deals with

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental hea ...

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{Netflix original ended series (2012–2018) 2010s American black comedy television series 2016 American television series debuts 2017 American television series endings Bipolar disorder in fiction English-language Netflix original programming Metafictional television series Nonlinear narrative television series Surreal comedy television series Television series about actors Television series about show business Television series created by Mitchell Hurwitz Television series created by Pam Brady Television shows filmed in Minnesota Television shows set in Los Angeles