I Love That for You is the story of cancer survivor Joanna Gold (Vanessa Bayer) who, after years of hard work and determination, finally gets her dream job as a host on the fictional home shopping channel SVN. Unfortunately, her means of getting the job are less than honest. After messing up her audition and interview, she comes up with a plan to use her sympathy card to fake her cancer has returned. It doesn’t - this is an outright lie - but it works and she is given the opportunity that she has always wanted. ..
Joanna is an avid viewer of the shopping channel, which has helped her to take on a new position. She is nervous and eager to please her co-workers, but she doesn’t let her insecurities get in the way. Joanna quickly becomes popular with viewers, thanks to her unique brand of charm.
Joanna is fortunate to have Jackie Stilton, the veteran shopping channel host who inspired Joanna to seek out a career in home shopping, as her mentor. Jackie acts as a support system for Joanna when she first arrives at the studio, although we later learn that, despite her high position and celebrity status, her life is just as messy and complicated as that of the optimistic young woman she takes under her wing. ..
But beneath the surface, this new comedy series has the potential to be one of the most successful shows on Paramount+ and Showtime this year. The show’s premise is refreshing and unique, and its characters are likable and relatable. The show has potential to become a hit with viewers, and it could even make it to the top spot on both networks’ comedy schedules.
The show, which is hosted by SNL alums Colin Jost and Michael Che, is a surprisingly funny and heartfelt look at the life of Joanna (Bayer), a woman who seems to be living a lie. The show’s creators, SNL alum Bayer and co-creator Colin Jost, are both excellent in their roles, making the show very funny and touching. ..
Beyer is a top-notch comedienne, adept at physical comedy as well as delivering lines that are embarrassingly amusing and cringe-worthy. She is deservedly given the starring role in this show, and I hope she gets to take centre stage more often.
The character of Joanna is likable and sympathetic, despite the ugliness of the central lie. Even when Joanna’s ruse is discovered in the later episodes of this first season, we want her to win and keep her job as she is far nicer than the majority of her colleagues, especially Beth Ann (Ayden Mayeri) and Darcy Leeds (Matt Rogers) who are the equivalent of the bitchy colleagues you probably have in your workplace.
The cast of “The Office” must be commended for their stellar performances in the show. Molly Shannon is always brilliant as the veteran host with a serious hoarding problem, and Jennifer Lewis is very believable as Joanna’s badass boss who might be hard as nails on the outside but who is very vulnerable within.
The show ostensibly is about Joanna’s burgeoning career as a presenter, but it also satirizes corporate greed and shopping channel consumerism. If you have ever called into one of these networks to buy something you probably didn’t really need, you will have an understanding of the marketing power that exists behind the faces of the ever-smiling TV presenters. ..
For years, I’ve been fascinated by the parallels between my own life and Vanessa Bayer’s. I was born with leukemia, and for many years I’ve been trying to find a way to cope with it. I watch QVC and Ideal Home, and it feels like they are my own personal versions of those shows. The shopping channel has the look and feel of QVC, Ideal Home, and so many other channels that viewers regularly tune into. It’s a perfect example of how TV can be used to define us instead of help us define ourselves.
There is no news of a second season for More Time With The Comical Talents of Bayer and Shannon, but if ever a show needed one, it’s this. More time with the comedic talents of Bayer and Shannon would not be time wasted, as I Love That For You is one of the funniest American shows I have seen for a very long time. It ends on a bit of a cliffhanger too, with Joanna, Molly, and Patricia all facing up to their futures outside of SVN, so it would be a massive shame if we weren’t given the opportunity to follow their journeys outside of Season 1.
If you haven’t caught up with this show yet, now is the time to do so. It’s hilarious, despite the awkward premise, and is a great antidote to the glut of other TV shows (especially real-life shopping programmes) that do little to inspire or make us think about the complexities of our own lives. ..
