Erlich Bachman is one of my favorite screen characters of all time as the foul-mouthed, pu$$y-loving, drug-using eccentric.
After reading this article, I feel it is the right time for his character to move on.
Miller comes off as a spurned lover in this interview, and I get why. Lots of egos involved. He takes some shots both direct and indirect.
Bachmanity Insanity - (
New Window )
Great show
Like he knows he doesn't have the chops for a long career, so just be an obnoxious dick and ride it out until they stop paying you for it..
I didn't see any animosity in the article so much as him making small jokes in his stream of consciousness way of talking. I thought he was taking a shot at the one actor but it turns out they have worked together for years. There is a bit of smugness about him in other things that comes through here.
Anyway, he comes off as an asshole, but it's common knowledge he is a stand-up not an actor so this isn't all that surprising.
It was brutal. And I really wanted to like it but it was just bad.
Especially this season. I've never seen his standup other than bits of it in the HBO show crashing which he played himself and I thought he was pretty funny in that role.
I'm not comparing him to Steve Carell, but him leaving Silicon Valley I think of as akin to Michael Scott leaving the Office.
the other characters are funny, Richard the straight man, Gilfoyle the dead pan, Jared (in small doses is great, Dinesh the self deprecating Indian, Jian Yang the hilariously unintentionally funny foreigner, big head, they are supporting characters - and they could use more Monica.
Bachman was the alpha.
the main thing I didn't like about the interview was Miller taking shots at Alec Berg. I have no clue who Alec Berg is other than Miller's comments about him and Seinfeld, but Hollywood (from my outsiders view) is a small community and burning bridges never seems smart to me.
The rest of it, he's got like 5 or 6 movies and other projects in production, you can't do everything, so you move on.
But Aubrey Plaza keeps getting stand-up gigs, so go figure.
The only part in there that would suggest animosity are the shots at Alec Berg. Unless there's an inside joke there those were bridge burning type comments.
Agreed, it's just not funny anymore. I understand why the writers are turning Richard into a dick but it's just not funny.
For me he works in small doses. 5 minutes or so of Ehrlich is great. More than that is just grating. I also thought he was really good in his little arc on Crashing. But he's not a guy who I think can carry a movie, and his stand up is atrocious. The recent special was unwatchable. The Spanish atm bit and the whole "snerd" thing? That's the rare type of bad comedy that has the ability to make you angry in its sheer stupidity, and proof that for some people marijuana is just not creative fuel. But what do I know, he's hit the high point of an HBO special and is selling out big venues. Then again, so was Dane Cook.
Maybe he sees the writing on the wall for Silicon Valley and is leaving at its height, but he had his perfect niche in that show (funny stoner side character). And its much more reliable than banking on "The Emoji Movie".
I think hes taking a huge gamble trying to transition from "goofy friend" to popular stand-up guy and lead actor. We'll see I guess. He still has his "goofy freind" role in the Deadpool sequels to fall back on if things don't work out.
Maybe a half-chuckle the entire time, and I think I even forced it. It was so bad, I kept thinking it HAD to get better, only to get shit on with each successive attempt at a joke.
Maybe he sees the writing on the wall for Silicon Valley and is leaving at its height, but he had his perfect niche in that show (funny stoner side character). And its much more reliable than banking on "The Emoji Movie".
I think hes taking a huge gamble trying to transition from "goofy friend" to popular stand-up guy and lead actor. We'll see I guess. He still has his "goofy freind" role in the Deadpool sequels to fall back on if things don't work out.
The silicon guys were pretty accomplished in comedy circles before the show. Kumail najnani is a great stand up, and Zach woods is an improv legend
Maybe a half-chuckle the entire time, and I think I even forced it. It was so bad, I kept thinking it HAD to get better, only to get shit on with each successive attempt at a joke.
I agree. I was so fired up to watch it and then I spent the majority of time on my phone.
I didn't see any animosity in the article so much as him making small jokes in his stream of consciousness way of talking. I thought he was taking a shot at the one actor but it turns out they have worked together for years. There is a bit of smugness about him in other things that comes through here.
This was how I interpreted it as well
Why did Miller feel the need to say "I didn’t talk to Alec [Berg] because I don’t like Alec"? Or later "I don’t know how smart [Alec] is. He went to Harvard, and we all know those kids are f—ing idiots. That Crimson trash. Those comedy writers in Hollywood are f—ing Harvard graduates and that’s why they’re smug as a bug."
See you in five years on a Lifetime movie of the week.
Where does he crap on HBO? Here?
Why did Miller feel the need to say "I didn’t talk to Alec [Berg] because I don’t like Alec"? Or later "I don’t know how smart [Alec] is. He went to Harvard, and we all know those kids are f—ing idiots. That Crimson trash. Those comedy writers in Hollywood are f—ing Harvard graduates and that’s why they’re smug as a bug."
See you in five years on a Lifetime movie of the week.
He was being facetious regarding the Harvard stuff.
Why did Miller feel the need to say "I didn’t talk to Alec [Berg] because I don’t like Alec"? Or later "I don’t know how smart [Alec] is. He went to Harvard, and we all know those kids are f—ing idiots. That Crimson trash. Those comedy writers in Hollywood are f—ing Harvard graduates and that’s why they’re smug as a bug."
See you in five years on a Lifetime movie of the week.
Do you really think he's not in character here?
I'm not really a TJ Miller fan, pretty indifferent about him, but this seems like a statement his character makes, and wouldn't surprise me if it was a joke among the people named.
I'm more surprised that the interviewer didn't dig in on that statement and ask...
Quote:
but I don't think he's coming off well at all. Crapping on HBO is like leaving the Patriots because they haven't won enough Super Bowls.
Where does he crap on HBO? Here?
Quote:
HBO has never treated me as an employee, always as a collaborator. They were understanding and said, “Look, if you really think that this is the move and that you’ll be able to produce an hour special for us sooner than you would have if you were on the show, and if you feel right now under the current administration that you need to do stand-up because you need to be talking to the American public, then we support that." So they were very, very cool about it, and that final conversation was super friendly and sad. It was heartbreaking on my end.
That's a fair point but kind of parsing - he said HBO is great but knocked their showrunner who is basically an HBO guy.