The Detour

I often find series to laugh a bit problematic. Series to laugh are nine times out of ten not to laugh at all. Could you even catch yourself with any curl of the corners of the mouth while watching The Ranch? Grabbed for your shaking belly at Baskets? With tears in your eyes, one episode after another of that New Girl rip off, Weird Loners, hammered through it? Oh no? Maybe tears from crying. Good comedy is difficult and the flush is therefore thinner than Kate Moss when things were a bit bad in her life. Fortunately they are there, those series that can only make your mother's soul grunt aloud on the couch like a contented free-range pig. I still regularly startle myself when some unclear primal sound escapes me during Modern Family. Catastrophe, You're The Worst, The Spoils Of Babylon, I could all laugh about it. Even the first season of Black-ish and The Last Man On Earth went pretty well. The fact that they completely lost their mojo in season two, we should just ignore for the sake of convenience. As far as I'm concerned, the list of “quite-funny-and-not-wrong-to-watch-if-you-have-some-time-free-in-between-companies is now possible. The Detour are added. But who am I. What do you do if you've already promised your family to go on vacation, but then get fired? Then you remain silent in all keys and you do not take the plane, but the worn-out mini who drives so well 1 in 25. Is yummy cheapo. At least that's how Nate Parker does it. Of course he still has to convince his wife Robin that sweating for days in a sweltering car is a much better idea than a few hours in a wonderfully cooled plane, but Nate is not concerned about that. It soon becomes apparent that the vacation isn't the only reason to drive all the way from New York to Florida. In addition to his swimming trunks and snorkel, Nate has also packed a trade secret from his ex-employer and it must end up in the right hands in Fort Lauderdale. The Detour was written by Jason Jones, who previously contributed his best material to The Daily Show. Now if you think, “Hey, but that's the same guy as in that The Detour trailer, right?”… That's right! Writer and actor. Double the royalties, baby! He does that acting, just like the rest of the cast, by the way, not without merit, but anyone who knows how to incorporate a huge nod to the Platoon helicopter scene in his comedy, I think is by definition a king. That short reference to Oliver Stone's masterpiece also immediately conveys the humor in The Detour, it is adult. It's like a Modern Family meets The Hangover. Nate Parker is what would happen if Phil Dunphy really let go of the brakes and Robin is Claire, but as stoned as a canary. Seems more than enough reason to watch this one. It is worth it. For real.

I am glad this fun comedy has started again.