10 Things We Love About 'Baskets' (None of Which Are Zach Galifianakis)
From the beginning, the best and worst thing about Baskets is that it stars Zach Galifianakis. On the one hand, the actor’s star wattage — earned courtesy of The Hangover movies as well as the viral web series, Between Two Ferns — has powered the half-hour comedy to big ratings for FX. But his distinctly discomforting sense of humor hasn’t necessarily resulted in big laughs amongst audiences and critics. (Yahoo TV’s own Ken Tucker described Galifanakis’s character, sad-sack rodeo clown Chip Baskets, as a “selfish creep.”) As the series has progressed, though, we’ve found ourselves chuckling at a number of scenes, characters, and moments even if we still reflexively cringe at the star. If you’re thinking about catching up with this odd — and also oddly appealing — comedy, but have mixed feelings about Galifianakis, here are ten things that you can like and even love about Baskets while still not caring for Baskets himself.
1. Martha Kelly
A stand-up comic with no prior acting experience, Kelly was personally handpicked by Galifanakis to play his eternally put-upon, would-be pal, Martha Brooks. (“Zach said not to worry about the acting stuff,” she recently told the New York Times about how she was cast. “He wanted me to act like I would in real life.”) Poor Martha is on the receiving end of lots of abuse from Chip, but Kelly’s blasé reactions blunt the impact of any emotional trauma. Far from coming across as a victim, she possesses a stability that Baskets clearly lacks, and that renders his personal attacks as mere bluster. Kelly also does a brilliant job exposing Martha’s insane inner life; on this week’s episode, for example, she inadvertently welcomes a stray coyote into her home and names it Boots. It’s a choice that shocks the typically unshockable Chip.
2. Bakersfield, California
Just as The CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is making us move West Covina to the top of our must-visit California destinations list, Baskets is inventing a version of the previously unheralded town of Bakersfield that we’d legitimately love to spend time in. Not only does it boast a great Arby’s franchise, but as we come to learn in the Feb. 11 episode, there’s also a killer Easter brunch at the local casino. That installment also reveals that the city is cool enough to have its own Neil Diamond anthem. We’re already committing the lyrics to memory. And speaking of Arby’s…
Related: ‘Baskets’: 5 Keys to Understanding the Weirdness
3. Arby’s and Costco
Kudos to these two retail giants for allowing themselves to be ridiculed on a weekly basis. Of course, Arby’s is used to such treatment having been subjected to Jon Stewart’s contempt for well over a decade. At least in this case, the fast food franchise is being praised for its edible fare… even if it’s intended as ironic praise. And Costco must be thrilled with Martha’s dogged efforts to get Chip his insurance money (as well as sell premium memberships), which offsets the fact that her boss at the superstore is kind of a dolt.
4. Louie Anderson
An off-the-wall case of gender-blind casting handed the veteran comedian the best role of his career as the straight-shooting Basket family matriarch, Christine, and he runs away with every scene. The secret to Anderson’s terrific performance is that he never winks a the camera; you immediately accept him as this Reagan-worshipping suburban mom because he so completely inhabits the character. And Christine’s funniest — as well as her most dramatic — scenes are yet to come: Look for a memorable confrontation between her and Chip’s estranged wife, Penelope on the Feb. 18 episode.
Related: Ken Tucker Reviews ‘Baskets’
5. Penlope’s TV Addiction
When she agreed to marry Chip, Penelope made it blindingly clear that there’s was a marriage of Green Card-attaining convenience, not love. But there’s something that interests her more than U.S. residency: U.S. television! In the premiere, she demanded that Chip fork over $40 so she could enter the promised land of pay cable. And on this week’s episode, her hubby uses his $900 insurance check to buy a 4K TV to take the place of the ordinary HD flatscreen her strapping farmer boyfriend installed so they could watch the Robin Williams classic, Jumanji. (Chip’s not a fan, because the animals don’t talk.) Here’s hoping she uses that television to binge on Bored to Death.
6. Baskets Career College
Chip’s brother Dale is the (modest) success of the duo, overseeing his own continuing education institution, which provides lessons in such up-and-coming fields as “Home Phone Repair” and “Ice Cream Truck Washing.” The commercials for BCC approach “Mr. Plow” levels of fake-ad genius, making it the one genuinely hilarious thing that Galifianakis has contributed to the show.
7. French Scooters
Chip’s sweet Parisian-bought ride only got to zip through the Bakersfield streets for an episode, before it was totaled in an accident. And we miss it as much as he does. It’s got all the benefits of a motorcycle without the male insecurity factor.
8. Ernest Adams
Because the rodeo sequences obviously emphasize Chip, they haven’t been our favorite Baskets scenes. (That’s why we’re not terribly sad that subsequent episodes spend increasingly more time away from the rodeo ring.) But Adams is so good as the wizened rodeo owner, Eddie — who offers semi-prestigious titles liked “head clown” instead of high pay — we’d almost watch a spinoff that was just about him.
9. The “New” Twins
While Christine gives her twin sons Chip and Dale more support than they probably deserve, her other set of twins, Cody and Logan, are the true apple of her eye. We haven’t met these two successful DJs yet, but since the Feb. 25 episode is entitled “DJ Twins,” their triumphant return to Bakersfield appears to be quickly approaching. Hopefully they’ll be as charismatic in person as they are in photographs.
10. Jonathan Krisel
A veteran of the Tim & Eric school of comedy, Krisel co-created Baskets with Galifianakis and producer Louis C.K., and has so far directed every episode. His unobtrusive visual language effectively aids and abets the show’s askew comic vision. He holds each scene just a beat past normal comedies, allowing both for delayed after and extra squirms.
Baskets airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. on FX.
