"The Jim Gaffigan Show" Season 2 Launch Set for June 19th

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TV Land Sets Summer Premieres for "The Jim Gaffigan Show and "Impastor"
by Erik Pedersen
April 14, 2016


TV Land has booked premiere dates for a pair of sophomore comedies.

"The Jim Gaffigan Show" will bow at 10pm on Father’s Day, June 19, and "Impastor" arrives the following Sunday, June 26, at 10:30pm. Both shows’ second seasons will launch with back-to-back episodes.





"The Jim Gaffigan Show" is a fictionalized version of stand-up comic Jim Gaffigan’s real life as he navigates fatherhood, his career and an incurable obsession with food.

The 12-episode Season 2 will get even more inside Jim’s head, looking at all his neuroses about being in the ever-critical limelight and his marriage to wife Jeannie (Ashley Williams) and children.

Michael Ian Black and Adam Goldberg co-star in the series created by Peter Tolan and Gaffigan.

http://deadline.com/2016/04/jim-gaff...nd-1201737707/

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http://www.cutprintfilm.com/tv/tv-re...show-season-2/

You’d be forgiven if you overlooked The Jim Gaffigan Show last year. I certainly don’t blame you. It’s a TV Land original sitcom, centered around a comedian who made his living on food puns and dad jokes. Good food puns and dad jokes, mind you. But food puns and dad jokes all the same. In a time when there are a plethora of seemingly endless television choices, on various mediums, channels and streaming services, it’s hard to get inspired by what looks to be yet another comedian trying his hand at his own sitcom. We get it: everybody wants to be the next Jerry Seinfeld, the next Louis C.K., or even the next Daniel Tosh. But only a very limited few succeed. Look how things turned out for John Mulaney, for instance. Poor guy. Even the most talented comedians have struggled to make it work. It’s tough to stand out, or to make something that’s as good as anything else on television, let alone better.

And let’s be honest with ourselves: If there were any comedian expected to take it easy with their sitcom debut, it’s Jim Gaffigan. After all, his entire stage persona is build around playing up his general laziness. The cards seemed in place. The outcome appeared inevitable from the start. What was Jim Gaffigan going to add to television landscape that he hasn’t already added in his stand-up or books? Plus, the pilot, while not necessarily bad, wasn’t something to sing home about either. But here’s the thing: he refused to take it easy. In fact, Jim and his wife, Jeannie Gaffigan, went ahead and made one of the most emotionally humble, self-reflective, bleeding honest and unabashedly sincere sitcoms in ages.

The Jim Gaffigan Show is a labor of love, determination, hard work and persistence, one that’s unafraid to explore generally unsexy subject matters, including modern Roman Catholicism, Catholic guilt, overeating and crippling insecurity, and turn them into something that’s funny without being alienating and/or vigorously mean-spirited, insightful without being annoyingly message-driven and contemplative without interrupting the easygoing flow. It’s also, by these terms, perhaps the edgiest thing the generally clean, all-inclusive Jim Gaffigan has ever had associated to his name. So, there’s that.

Focused on Jim and Jeannie’s marriage, their five children and their cramped two-bedroom apartment in the heart of New York City, The Jim Gaffigan Show is unafraid to examine their life for what it is, plan and simply, never concerned or bothered if its subject matter is on the verge of taboo. But at the same token, it’s always willing to look at the bigger social picture through their individual perception but with an open heart and a considerate gaze. Yes, it’s yet another family sitcom about a lazy dad and his more attractive, always “fussy” wife. But it’s also more than that. A lot more than that, quite possibly, if the Gaffigans continue to play their cards right.

Their first season was far from perfect, admittedly, but it was nevertheless a fun, inviting, goodhearted program with a good supporting cast, including Ashley Williams as Jeannie, Michael Ian Black as Jeannie’s gay best friend, Daniel and Adam Goldberg as Jim’s underachieving best friend, Dave, featuring a revolving door for guest celebrities — an always-entertaining returning cameo from a certain ’90s child star is one of the show’s best features — a nice visual sheen (especially by TV sitcom standards) and tons of room for growth and exciting thematic possibilities. And with its second season, if you’ll let me indulge for just a little bit, The Jim Gaffigan Show not only improves upon itself and doubles down on what made the first season so promising and exciting, it proves that it might maybe, just maybe become the next Louie. And yes, I’m still talking about an original family sitcom on TV Land. Quite frankly, I’m a little shocked myself. And I’ve been a loyal fan of the comedian for nearly a decade.

Based on these first two episodes from their new 10-episode second season, “The Calling” and “The Trail,” The Jim Gaffigan Show (which, by the way, should simply be called Gaffigan, since it’s just as much about his wife and kids as it is him, but whatever) has become breezier, more focused, confident, vulnerable, candid, attentive and cordial than ever. The laughs are more consistent, yet it remains unafraid to mindfully, intuitively ask big questions regarding faith in the new millennium, staying true to yourself, fatherhood, parenthood and the modern social media climate, all while focusing on a popular performer that openly shows the messiness and internal anguish each turbulent topic provides. It’s both conservative and progressive in its values, willing to talk about idealistic ideas but not afraid to sometimes show that reality isn’t as clean cut as it is on the TV (Land). As far as sitcoms go, it’s at once unflinching, perceptive and genuinely touching. It’s also both secular and open-minded, focused on its values but willing to look at the bigger world with careful, yet still deeply amusing, consideration. And now, with a bigger budget, a more cinematic presentation and a clearer sense of self, it’s only getting better.

Both of these Father’s Day-released installments, directed by Peter Lauer (Malcolm in the Middle, Strangers With Candy) and written by Jeannie & Jim Gaffigan, have a more surreal, intentionally dreamlike quality, in an blatant attempt to, once again, emulate C.K.’s excellent series. More so than ever, they tickle with blending reality with the hyperbolic. This is made clear by its exceptional second episode, which literally puts Gaffigan on trail against lawyer Zachary Quinto after the comedian puts a seemingly tame but deeply misconstrued joke on Twitter. But they don’t attempt to direct copy the formula, unlike other shows like, say, IFC’s Maron. Rather, they use some of the same liberties to let them push their own comedy further. The approach is at once familiar and fresh, corny and clever, but always wisely singular in its views. It’s a show that’s clearly vibrating with lively ideas and dynamic perspectives, even in our modern comedy scene. Like a more seasoned comedy, its delivery is constantly assured, even when the jokes don’t always land, and expertly in-tune with itself. And while it has settled into its formula, it’s always willing to push the boundaries whenever it sees fit, and continues to promise more soul-searching and emotional gravitas in the future. I can’t wait to see where it goes along the way. Did I mention this is on TV Land?

As teased throughout these two episodes, this second season is going to continue exploring fatherhood, the role of modern masculinity, the age of socially-conscious comedy and the worth of a comedian in fruitful and meaningful ways, and it’ll hopefully continue to evolve in its goodness in the process. The Jim Gaffigan Show is a perfectly imperfect show, a vibrant sitcom that’s set to welcoming a new era of television comedy, so long as people pay attention. And in doing so, it’ll firmly establish Gaffigan as more than just “The Hot Pockets Guy,” or the new face of Chrysler or KFC. It’ll prove he’s a comedic force of reckoning, a welcomed and vital voice in modern comedy that’s set to change the barriers of conventional family sitcoms as we know them. The Jim Gaffigan Show might, indeed, become not only a pretty revolutionary comedy, but an important new show to watch, period. Didn’t expect that from a guy who makes a lot of bacon jokes, huh? The surprises only continue from there. If you were ever going to watch TV Land, do it now. I’m not joking around.