''Man Seeking Woman'' is an American

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

television series that aired for three seasons on

FXX FXX is an American basic cable channel owned by the Walt Disney Television unit of The Walt Disney Company through FX Networks, LLC. It is the partner channel of FX, with its programming focusing on original and acquired comedy series and fe ...

from January 14, 2015, to March 8, 2017. The series is set in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, about a naïve and soft-spoken man in his 20s named Josh Greenberg (played by

Jay Baruchel Jonathan Adam Saunders Baruchel (; born April 9, 1982) is a Canadian actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. He is known for his voice role as Hiccup Haddock in the ''How to Train Your Dragon'' franchise, and for his roles in comedy movies ...

), who finds himself in several

surreal Surreal may refer to: *Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art * "Surreal" (song), a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki * ''Surreal'' (album), an album by Man Raze *Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor ...

and awkward circumstances while trying to find love. The series is based on a book of short stories, '' The Last Girlfriend on Earth'', by

Simon Rich Simon Rich (born June 5, 1984) is an American humorist, novelist, and screenwriter. He has published two novels and six collections of humor pieces, several of which appeared in ''The New Yorker.'' His novels and short stories have been translat ...

, who is also the series creator, executive producer, and showrunner.

Jonathan Krisel Jonathan Krisel (; born January 4, 1979) is an American director, producer, writer, editor, and occasional actor. He is best known for co-creating the series ''Portlandia'' (for which he also directed and co-wrote in the majority of episodes), ...

, Andrew Singer, and

Lorne Michaels Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian-American producer, screenwriter, and comedian. He is best known for creating and producing ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and producing the '' La ...

are also executive producers, with

Broadway Video Broadway Video is an American multimedia entertainment studio founded by Lorne Michaels, creator of the sketch comedy TV series ''Saturday Night Live'' and producer of other television programs and movies. Broadway Video also held the rights to ...

, Allagash Industries and FXP (formerly FX Productions) as production companies. It has received generally positive reception from critics. On April 4, 2017, the show was canceled after three seasons.

Premise

Most episode plots are based on relatable conflicts and struggles of entering/maintaining a relationship; however, these conflicts are taken to absurd and literal extremes. The show centers on Josh Greenberg, who struggles finding love after a break-up with his long term girlfriend Maggie. His mature and successful older sister Liz often tries to help him enter into a serious relationship, and his sex-crazed best friend Mike often tries to help him with solely having sex. Josh's efforts oftentimes lead him into surreal and awkward circumstances such as going on a date with an actual

troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...

, physically misplacing his penis, or meeting a Japanese monster composed of human penises. Sometimes Josh is successful in finding a girlfriend; however, these relationships usually only survive for one episode.

Cast and characters

Main

as Josh Greenberg, a naïve and soft-spoken 27-year-old man working a

temp job Temporary work or temporary employment (also called gigs) refers to an employment situation where the working arrangement is limited to a certain period of time based on the needs of the employing organization. Temporary employees are sometimes ...

. He struggles to find love, following a break-up from a long relationship. He is sometimes used as a

straight man The straight man is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically, the straight man is expected to maintain composure. The direct contribution to the ...

when absurd and surreal things happen. *

Eric André Eric Samuel André (born April 4, 1983) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, television host and writer. He is best known as the creator, host, and co-writer of the Adult Swim comedy series '' The Eric Andre Show'' (2012–present) ...

as Mike Scaggs, Josh's laid-back best friend who has an easier time with girls than Josh. He often attempts to help Josh, however, he is more interested in helping him have sex as opposed to entering into a serious relationship. *

Britt Lower Brittney Leigh Lower () is an American actress known for her roles as Liz in ''Man Seeking Woman'', Tanya Solibakke in ''Unforgettable'' and Helly R in ''Severance''. Early life Lower was born on August 2, 1985, in Heyworth, Illinois, to Steven ...

as Liz Greenberg, Josh's protective and caring older sister who also tries to help Josh. Her methods of helping are more rational and down-to-earth than Mike's; they are more driven to getting Josh into a serious relationship. She has a condescending view of Mike, who in turn doesn't seem to have an opinion of her. * Maya Erskine as Maggie (season 1), Josh's ex-girlfriend, who breaks up with him at the start of the series. *

Katie Findlay Katie Findlay is a Canadian actress known for portraying Rosie Larsen in the American crime drama television series '' The Killing''. From 2013 to 2014, Findlay portrayed Maggie Landers in The CW's teen drama ''The Carrie Diaries''. From 2014 to ...

as Lucy (season 3), Josh's girlfriend and later wife.

Recurring

Robin Duke Robin Duke (born March 13, 1954) is a Canadian actress, comedian, and voice actress. Duke may be best known for her work on the television comedy series '' SCTV'' and, later, ''Saturday Night Live''. She co-founded ''Women Fully Clothed'', a ske ...

as Patti Greenberg, Josh and Liz's mother. *

Mark McKinney Mark Douglas Brown McKinney (born June 26, 1959) is a Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known as a member of the sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall, which includes starring in the 1989 to 1995 TV series ''The Kids in the Hall'' and 1 ...

as Tom Greenberg, Josh and Liz's step-father. * Jeff Pangman as Charles Powell, Josh's boss. *

Ennis Esmer Ennis Esmer (born December 29, 1978) is a Turkish-Canadian actor, comedian, voice actor, writer, producer and presenter. He is best known for his roles as Osman 'Oz' Bey in ''The Listener'', Kurtis 'Maz' Mazhari in ''Private Eyes'', Nash in '' ...

as Leo (season 1), Liz's boyfriend. *

Rosa Salazar Rosa Bianca Salazar (; born July 16, 1985) is a Canadian-American actress. She had roles in the NBC series '' Parenthood'' (2011–2012) and the FX anthology series '' American Horror Story: Murder House'' (2011). She made her breakthrough as t ...

as Rosa Mendes (season 2), a co-worker of Josh's that he and Mike both fall in love with.

Production

On June 19, 2013,

ordered a

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

for ''Man Seeking Woman'' from

, directed by

. On February 6, 2014,

was cast as the lead character, Josh Greenberg. On March 20,

, and Maya Erskine were announced as the remaining principal cast members. On July 2, the network announced it had picked up the series for a 10-episode series order, as well as its principal cast and production crew. On October 31,

Miles Fisher James Leslie Miles Fisher (born June 23, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, entrepreneur and musician. He made his debut in the CBS adaptation of the book '' True Women'' and had a starring role in the 2000 film ''Lone Star Struck''. In 2001 ...

was cast in a recurring role. The series is filmed in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. On March 3, 2015, it was renewed for a 10-episode second season. On April 12, 2016, FX announced it was renewed for a 10-episode third season.

Episodes

Reception

''Man Seeking Woman'' has been met with positive reviews from critics.

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 ...

gives the first season of the show a rating of 82%, based on 33 reviews, with an average rating of 6.73/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Amusingly surrealistic and enjoyably odd, ''Man Seeking Woman'' is easy to fall for, taking a ridiculously funny approach to a common theme." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, 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 arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the season has a score of 66 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The second season received positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a rating of 100% based on 8 reviews with an average rating of 8.0 out of 10. The third season also received positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a rating of 100% based on 13 reviews with an average rating of 8.83 out of 10. The site's critical consensus states, "''Man Seeking Woman'' explores new avenues of storytelling in season 3, while maintaining its excellent absurdist humor and imaginative dealings with relatable relationship issues." On Metacritic, the season has a score of 89 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

References

External links

* * * {{FXX programming 2010s American romantic comedy television series 2010s American single-camera sitcoms 2010s American surreal comedy television series 2015 American television series debuts 2017 American television series endings English-language television shows FXX original programming Television shows set in Chicago Television shows filmed in Toronto Television shows based on books Television series by Broadway Video Television series created by Simon Rich Adaptations of works by Simon Rich