I agree, of all Lynch’s works (not counting the really minor stuff like website shorts), On the Air is my least favorite. It’s the same style of comedy as the lame stuff in TP S2. I like farce when it’s done well, but IMO, OtA mostly isn’t (Noises Off is an example of this kind of thing being done way better). I do like some aspects (Ferrer and Lander are pretty funny at points), but it mostly feels forced. Episode 7 (written by Lynch/Engels and directed by Lynch’s best friend Jack Fisk) is interesting, with frequent Lynch collaborator/Dern buddy Bellina Logan (Louie “Birdsong” Budway from TP) giving a pretty surreal whiteface performance as a mysterious beatnik who Lander has a crush on. It might be worth a watch. There’s also an episode with Freddie Jones which I enjoy just because I love Freddie, but it’s not a good episode. The other episodes just feel like watered-down versions of the pilot. If you didn’t like the pilot, I wouldn’t bother except for the sake of completism.Jonah wrote: ↑Sat May 22, 2021 9:29 am Yep! I was pretty sure it was him. Rewound it to listen to it again. I'd know Gordon Cole anywhere lol. I have to say I didn't love the pilot, though, and I remember feeling that way before when I watched it (or some of it). I actually thought the movie Radioland Murders I posted about was better than this. It just didn't work for me. And I wanted to like it. I did enjoy some of the shots - the blinking lights on the telephones, the audience at home, but I couldn't really connect with it beyond that. I had rememebred Lester Guy being in it more too. It just felt very inconsequential and mostly unfunny, not the fantastic farce it's billed as. Some charm, certainly, but even though it's only 25 minutes I kept checking the timer to see when it would be over. I think I had a similar reaction last time.
I've read this is the best episode. Reviews say 2 is okay and 7 sounds interesting, but 1 is the best. Are the others worth watching if I wasn't crazy about this one? At least this one had some Lynchian touches because he directed it, but the others don't, and apparently he only co-scripted 7 and that's it for his involvement. I might try Hotel Room instead.
On the other hand, I love Hotel Room. The first episode with Freddie and Harry Dean is great. So is the third, with Crispin Glover and Alicia Witt (hard to believe it was only two years after TP E8...she grew up FAST). The second episode wasn’t done by Lynch and plays more like a Sex and the City episode, but it’s sort of breezy fun and has a cool ending.