Mulaney has the potential to be a good show, but week after week it fumbles the ball. John Mulaney has a great, wry sense of humor which rewarded him well in his stand-up career and writing for Saturday Night Live. For whatever reason, though, this wit and charm can’t translate into his first run as a showrunner.

It’s a shame, really. Sometimes these things just don’t work out, of course. And who knows? Maybe as it churns out its last five episodes this season (when they will actually air is anyone guess, at this point) it’ll churn out some good moments. But for as much as this show wants to be Seinfeld, it does have some little nut-and-bolts inside its engine that, if done well, could make an at least decent show out of Mulaney. It just needs to switch things up, add some others and remove some altogether.

If they will do these —if they get a second season at all (which the Fox show likely won’t) — is up in the air at best. But they are definitively feasible, and something Mulaney and his team should at least consider. So lets look at least ten ways Mulaney could improve upon its mediocrity.

Image courtesy of Peter West/ACE/INFphoto.com

[ new page = Bring John’s Mom Back ]

10. Bring John’s Mom Back
While still not quite a good episode, easily one of the best from this series so far was episode 5, ”In the Name of the Mother, and the Son and the Holy Andre. And a large part of the episode’s near appeal came from actress Nora Dunn, playing the episode’s titular mom. She not only bounces well against the cast, but also provides some interesting layers to John’s character and the show’s emotional core.

Should Mulaney find a more concrete place for her, it may find some more laughs, wit and, most importantly, heart. She doesn’t need to be in every episode, of course, and shoehorning her in would only makes things worse. But it would really be a bummer if this were the one-and-only episode she was in.

[ new page= Get Rid of John’s Stand-Up Bits ]

9. Get Rid of John’s Stand-Up Bits
The biggest way Mulaney tries ripping off Seinfeld is through its opening stand-up bits. But here’s the thing about Seinfeld’s stand-up bits: the reason he included them was because they gave into the basis of the show. As a series centered on how a comedian gets his material, these opening/ending stand-up parts were there to show his writing process, not merely to promote his stage career. Although, I’m sure it didn’t hurt it.

Mulaney’s openings kinda tries to establish the story each week, but feels looser and looser as the series continues. As such, they feel more habitual than necessary. Plus, they slow the show down thanks to their relentless censorship (I’ll explain this more later on). The last aired episode, ”It’s a Wonderful Home Alone”, was the first to get rid of this, and it actually improved its pacing and timing. Just like Seinfeld ditched them over time, so too should Mulaney. If people want to see stand-up, they can find your sets online.

[ new page= Tone Down Jane (and Maybe Motif) ]

8. Tone Down Jane (and Maybe Motif)
It’s odd how Jane, played by Nasim Pedrad, went from one of Mulaney’s best features to one of its worst. What caused this is likely a couple of things, but most notably it’s because they tried too hard to “Elaine” her up and made her too broad. The sitcom doesn’t need to get rid of her, but it definitely needs to turn her down. Actors are only as good as their direction, and series director Andy Ackerman — a Seinfeld director, ironically enough — is likely pushing her too far.

Same can kinda be said about Motif, played by Seaton Smith. Yet there’s still something so oddly charming about his character. Perhaps it has to do with the actor himself growing, or just getting more time to shine, but he has had the opposite effect of Jane. He went from one of the worst aspects of Mulaney’s show to one of its most enduring. He’s doing fine for now, but remember to keep him in check. Don’t let him go overboard again.

[ new page= Just Make Andre a Member of John’s Group Already ]

7. Just Make Andre a Member of John’s Group Already
Another way Mulaney tries to make itself like Seinfeld is by having its own Kramer/Newman. This time, in the form of their intrusive next-door neighbor Andre, played by Zack Pearlman. Throughout the show, they treat him like utter dog crap, and it makes sense if they’re trying to go the Newman route. But the problem, though, is that there’s nothing really offensive or dislikable about the character.

He isn’t mean, slimy or ill intentioned like Newman, so when the group makes fun of them it actually backfires on them. It makes Mulaney and his friends appear as giant a-holes while Andre is the good guy. If that is the case, drop the whole mean-spirited act and just have the characters accept Andre and make him the fourth chair. Unless he actually does something bad, he doesn’t deserve the dog piling he gets in the show.

[ new page= Either Get Meaner or Get Nicer ]

6. Either Get Meaner or Get Nicer
Mulaney is so damn wishy-washy. There’s no other way to address it. This new Fox sitcom is a really wishy-washy show. It’s too clean to be edgy, and yet too mean to be fun enough for everyone to enjoy. If Mulaney knows what’s best for it, he’ll cut it loses and decide, once and for all, what Mulaney wants to be.

Either be the generic sitcom that appeals to people who like The Big Bang Theory or go dark and thoughtful like Louie. Seinfeld could touch dark topics in an accessible manner, but Seinfeld, remember, was lightning in a bottle. It just worked because everything ended up getting in line with one another. Mulaney will never be Seinfeld, and that’s OK. It doesn’t have to be, but it does need to decide what it should be.

[ new page= Focus Less on John and More on the Rest of the Cast ]

5. Focus Less on John and More on the Rest of the Cast
What made Seinfeld, well, Seinfeld was less about the titular man himself and more about its supporting characters. Don’t believe me? When you think about Seinfeld, what characters come to mind first? I would imagine it would be Kramer or George or Elaine or even the Soup Nazi. Jerry is a great character, but he’s the straight man and should only be on screen for a select period of time, something Seinfeld grew to realize as it progressed. Because of this, it became the great sitcom it is today.

Mulaney kinda does this from time to time, as they did in episode 7 ”Motif and the City”, but the series still ultimately centers on John first-and-foremost. Which is a problem because a. John is the least interesting one of the bunch and b. Mulaney, as an actor, still is trying to get his bearings on this whole acting thing. By giving Smith more time to breath as Motif, and especially another character I’ll talk about later on this list to do the same, it would spice up the sitcom immensely.

This would give Mulaney more personality and variety, while letting Mulaney grow more easefully into his stage presence. Something, for the record, he seems to be doing more when interacting with other characters — further proving my point here.

[ new page= Incorporate Mulaney’s Voice Deeper into the Show ]

4. Incorporate Mulaney’s Voice Deeper into the Show
During the pilot of Mulaney, when the comedian recreated his great accidental girl-subway-chasing bit, he changed the rape part of the joke to “kill.” The bit worked there, but it didn’t work in the show. For reasons that only make sense if you hear John say it himself, there’s a weird good intention to the stand-up bit not translating into the show.

This, in a nutshell, describes why Mulaney’s show doesn’t quite work as well as his stand-up: his observations and wit are being lost. The comedian needs to find a way to make the stand-up hilarity translate into his show. Is this possible? Maybe, maybe not. It worked for Louis C.K. and Jerry Seinfeld, so there’s a good chance it could for John Mulaney as well. But he certainly hasn’t done it yet. That’s why Mulaney has remained as awkward as that butchered up stand-up redo from the very first scene of the very first episode.

Also, here’s the bit I was referring to. I feel the need to show it since I did a pretty terrible job of describing it.

[ new page = Push the Boundaries ]

3. Push the Boundaries
It’s apparent in each-and-every episode of Mulaney that the writers have a lot darker, mature and intellectual ideas in mind. But either due to the censorship of the network (which, considering what they allow on Family Guy just a mere couple hours later seems a bit illogical) or the episodes’ running times or a lack of confidence or something else entirely, each episode feels neutered of its full comedic potential. They possess a weird middle ground of wanting to be mean spirited, but still accessible of gaining wide audience appeal. It just doesn’t work.

The most apparent example of this came in episode 6 ”Patriot Acts”, where John and his roommates must decide whether or not to cut off an innocent dog’s leg to replace a run-away one-legged companion owned by Jane’s boyfriend. Perhaps on a cable network (like FX), this bit could have done wonders. But here they played too broad and awkward, making the bit seem more ugly than appealing. I love dark humor, and I know from John Mulaney’s stand-up he does too. So hopefully he can try to find ways to include some more into his show.

[ new page = Loose Lou Cannon ]

2. Loose Lou Cannon
I want to like Martin Short. I really do, especially here. But his shtick gets old all-too-quick. It comes across far too desperate, especially now a-days. I’m sure he’s a nice enough guy, but he’s best left to be seen here and there, not as the third biggest character on a network show. But that, sadly, what happens here.

Lou Cannon is a character who ultimately doesn’t quite gel within Mulaney. It’s not his fault; it’s just his one-liners don’t really work well with the lower-key vibe the show seems to want to venter closer towards. Considering the sitcom already has enough wacky figures, this one seems like the straw breaking the camel’s back. By loosing him, Mulaney can concentrate more on the relationship John has with his roommates, then get to the root of what Mulaney wants to accomplish: a Seinfeld for the 21st century.

[ new page = More Oscar! ]

1. More Oscar!
Elliott Gould is just great. He’s always great, either in comedy or drama. So, of course, he does some great work on Mulaney as Oscar, the gang’s bright-eyed older homosexual neighbor. It’s easily the show’s best feature. While his presence on Mulaney grows, he’s still only a minimal part of it. He’s there when the series decides it needs them. But Gould is not only a funny character, but also a well fleshed out one, and one full of energy and life. He’s more than just a gay stereotype, something I remember fearing before it began.

When he is on, it lights up. His delivery is great and his timing is equally as good, but he is, sadly, only in about 25% of the show so far. He needs to be in it at least 50% and definitely deserves more screen time than Short. I hope that if Mulaney gets renewed, the two characters switch places. Even on the last leg of his career, Gould deserves better and he can do great things here if given the chance.