Whenever we see a show that has Maya Rudolph as its star, we become hopeful that it will take advantage of all she has to offer as a comedic, musical and acting talent. Usually, we’re disappointed, especially if the show itself is pleasant enough but could be so much better. That’s the case with Rudolph’s new series for Apple; it’s fine, but is it good?
LOOT: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: A speedboat motors its way through ocean waters.
The Gist: Tech billionaire John Novak (Adam Scott) and his wife of 20 years, Molly (Maya Rudolph) are on their way to her birthday present: A massive yacht. It’s filled with everything Molly might want, including heated bar stools. Just as she’s enjoying her new plaything, though, John is called away on business. Later, at a massive birthday party he throws for her, she finds out that John is cheating on her with his assistant, and demands a divorce.
The divorce is huge news, one of the reasons being is that the couple had no prenup, so Molly gets half the fortune they built together; her haul is almost $90 billion. But in the ensuing weeks and months, she has no idea what to do with herself. She drinks and parties with her assistant Nicholas (Joel Kim Booster) all over the world, and drunkenly falls into pools, but she feels empty, a feeling that preceded the divorce. Then one day she gets a call from Sofia Salinas (Michaela Jaé Rodriguez), the head of a charitable foundation that Molly didn’t even know she had.
Molly’s exploits are getting Sofia concerned that it’ll reflect poorly on the foundation. Molly, who is reintroduced to her cousin Howard (Ron Funches), who works IT, and also his cubicle mate Arthur (Nat Faxon), decides that she needs to participate more in the foundation, just to give her some sense of worth. She starts by bringing a fleet of Escalades to bring the staff to the opening of a shelter of unhoused women, where she insists on making a speech. That speech makes headlines for its tone-deafness.
Undeterred, and despite a stern but polite plea from Sofia to “do something else,” Molly decides to keep working at the foundation and help however she can.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Loot is the second collaboration between Rudolph and creators Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard; they worked together on the surreal comedy Forever a couple of years ago. Loot has some of the feel of that show, but it’s also got a lot of the workplace vibe of one of Hubbard’s old shows, Parks and Recreation.
Our Take: Maya Rudolph has many, many talents: She’s funny as hell, is a wonderful singer, does killer impressions, is great at physical comedy, and is a more than capable dramatic actor. But it feels like most projects she’s been in post-SNL (with the possible exception of Bridesmaids, and that was 11 years ago) have been more miss than hit. Loot feels like it’s another show in that category.
Not that there aren’t some good moments in the show’s first episode. The scene where Molly tells Sofia that she’s been feeling an empty feeling in her life for awhile shows off some fine natural expression work that looked effortless on her part. Rodriguez’s ultra-intimidating Sofia is a good foil for Molly. And we know that Faxon, Booster and Funches can make any material funny.
But the story itself feels uninspired, even if it’s likely based somewhat on MacKenzie Scott’s and Melinda Gates’ high-profile divorces from Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, respectively. By the end of the first episode, you can just feel the show settling into the usual rhythms of a workplace comedy: Sofia will be constantly frustrated with Molly, Arthur and Molly will form a bond, and Molly will take some time to fit in but eventually make it work in her own way.
And that can be… OK, even entertaining and watchable. That’s basically what we saw this past season with American Auto, starring Rudolph’s SNL buddy Ana Gasteyer. But it feels like it could be so much more, especially with Rudolph as the lead and Apple’s ample budget and creative freedom. But at some point, you want to start to see Rudolph in a role that was as dynamic as the work she did (and, let’s face it, currently does, given all her drop-ins as Kamala Harris) on SNL. Yang and Hubbard may get there with Molly, but we don’t quite see it yet.
Sex and Skin: Nothing in the first episode.
Parting Shot: Molly clears out her office, which was used for storage, sits down at her desk, and smiles at the possibilities. The nameplate outside her office has a Post-It pasted over “Novak” that has her maiden name “Wells” written on it.
Sleeper Star: We all know how good Rodriguez is, given her Emmy-nominated run in Pose. But we like how serious and intimidating she is as Sofia, and she’ll definitely make a good foil to the out-of-touch Molly.
Most Pilot-y Line: When Howard tells Molly that “Black Twitter has your back,” Arthur continues that sentiment by saying “White Facebook is also very supportive,” then realizes he’s making it sound like he follows white supremacy groups.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Like we said, Loot is a very watchable, and funny-enough show. But we just want a Maya Rudolph series to really make its star a tour de force
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
