"CBS has decided to take a break from comfortingly bland procedurals and largely inoffensive comedies "

Give it a shot, at least for one episode. I'm a big hip hop fan and not at all a Luhrmann fan, so I was skeptical as well. But the show, while not perfect, is very, very good. Great acting from the kids. Amazing soundtrack. And the show has a distinct feel that seems to be Luhrmann meshing authentic 70s with a bit of…

I wouldn't go that far to say it's a masterpiece, but I am very glad I ignored the mixed reviews and watched the show for myself. The show is great and so damned vivid. Also, as a hip hop head, getting that glimpse of how it all came to be is just fascinating.

If Facebook metrics are anything to go by, Stranger Things has nearly 3M likes while The Get Down is only 500K. ST is huge, not just for Netflix, but in general

The "successful stand-up" was an overall career comparison. IIRC, Rock peaked at Bigger and Blacker (awesome special), but What Now? is supposedly a stand-up first for filling up an entire stadium. I do wonder who is the most successful stand-up ever, both pure and overall. But then, I'm worried that the answers would…

Isn't he the most successful standup ever, at this point? Between all the movies, TV show, specials, etc.

Kevin Hart's star has been rising insanely for the past 6 years with his TV specials and movies, without Hollywood's involvement. He didn't "come out of nowhere".

Catching up on this show, I think it's a bit fascinating that you clearly got downvotes for this comment. I love this show now, but it, like others shows about complex villain protagonists (not antiheroes) portrayed by amazing actors gets such an odd audience of people actively rooting for the fictional villains doing…

Fun fact: I knew a girl named Krystle once. She got a Masters degree in Computer Science and is now happily married with a kid

"as icy as the Antarctic tundra"

After this and the Maron show on IFC, I'm not sure if he could be capable actor, or if he's just great at projecting himself in a great candid fashion on screen.

I feel like The Last Boy Scout is a great entertaining flick for that time when 80s action buddy flicks were long-in-the-tooth and starting to phase out and 90s big budget action event flicks were coming along. It never goes full on spoof of the genre, but it's so knowingly over-the-top and full of humor.

**Vague spoiler mentions**

Your comment should include a pun or John Goodman reference to get more upvotes at AVClub

As a member of said audience, I love new, original ideas, but I want them to be an origin story of something I might have seen, read, or heard about in passing many years ago

I get sort of confused when people say that TV is so crap nowadays, when we live in the age of gems like Hannibal, Fargo, The Americans, Louie etc.

Agent Doggett was awesome, you heathen!

Exactly. I don't like that megastars are hiding behind the notion of "art" and "rightfully compensating artists" as their rationale for doing this.

Will Smith starts calling everyone he knows to get his kids to star in this.

That would be my issue with a full season order as well. Empire soapy threads were all over the place, and it was only 12 episodes. Doubling that would probably result in a lot more head-scratching, eye-rolling, and, at worst, feet-dragging.