Last night I watched some incredibly brilliant, dark comedy, written and produced by one of the most wholesome families in comedy, Jim and Jeannie Gaffigan. The Jim Gaffigan Show ended season two with an episode that was funny, touching, heartfelt, personal and disturbingly thought provoking. In my opinion, it was their best show of both seasons. Today, I found out that yesterday was not just the end of season two, but the end of the entire series. Today, Jim and Jeannie announced they have decided not to make anymore shows and to invest more time in their family.
I have to tell you, that after reading that news, I felt bad. I felt bad because I so much enjoyed yesterday’s show and I also felt bad because earlier in the season I wrote a review that questioned the direction of the show and how I felt it had grown increasingly mean towards Jim’s character. Although I wrote the review from the perspective of a fan, it was still from the perspective of someone disagreeing with certain elements of the show. I’m the middle child of five kids and although it might seem silly to outsiders, I don’t like conflict. I truly want to be supportive whenever possible, especially when it comes to other people’s creativity. Anyway, although I felt my critique wasn’t mean spirited, today I felt bad that I would be unable to write future, more positive reviews as the show continued to develop its voice and tone. Today’s news prevented that future reality.
So, I thought I would at least write about how much I appreciated the final episode of The Jim Gaffigan Show; particularly how much I enjoyed the final two minutes. The final minutes of the show ended with a satirical series of sight gags that were simultaneously hilarious and profoundly unsettling. I am unwilling to give away the outcome, except to comment that the show directly addressed the consuming fear that has persisted throughout history concerning children and their fathers. After the show, I looked over at my wife and said, “I can’t believe they went there.” However, I’m really glad they did.
The final episode had so much playful freedom mixed with profound satirical depth concerning how we reconcile our need to be loved by our parents with our parents’ inability to love us better. The show started with the premise that Jim is trying to get his children to fall asleep by telling them a bedtime story. The story he tells his children is a somewhat revisionist tale about how his family, and particularly his father, handled a storm. In reality, the story is really about how Jim was loved by his father in comparison to how he loves his own children. To tell this story, the show is primarily one big flashback to Jim’s childhood. Jim plays his father Mike and his tv wife, Ashley Williams, plays Jim’s mom.
The flashback story is obviously funny at a purely comedic level. Its nostalgic humor is evocative of the feel one gets when watching The Christmas Story, but with a harsher edge. This is primarily because Jim portrays his father as a rather emotionally distant, angry, swearing father. The heart of gold scenes don’t really materialize. Although Jim tries to narrate the intention of his dad as good, what is portrayed on screen is less convincing. However, as the show continues, we do gain a story arc that helps us understand Jim’s love for his dad but also what most assuredly motivates Jim to be different from his father. And yes…you can’t help but think you’re getting a peek into some of the mild historical psychological trauma that went into producing Jim Gaffigan the comedian.
Don’t get me wrong, the episode is mostly just funny, but I felt like it tracked at a deeper level. Which brings me to why I so much loved the conclusion of the episode, or should I sadly say the conclusion of the series. The show ends with a profound, deeply funny and disturbing observation about parenting. In the resolution between Jim’s boyhood conflict with his father, Jim’s father justifies his poor parenting by basically saying, “If you think I’m a bad father, you should have seen my dad.” What follows that comment is one of the funniest and darkest things I’ve seen on television in years. You’ll have to watch the show to find out how it all ends. I just can’t spoil it.
Jeannie Gaffigan not only co-wrote all of season two with Jim, but she also produced the show and directed the final episode. She should be proud of her final product. It is bittersweet for me to write this review. I guess that is the best way to finish a project, leaving people wanting more. I’m sure there is more to come from the very productive Gaffigan family, it just won’t be in the form of a third season. Regardless, I’d like to say thank you for experimenting with a genre and bringing us two seasons of some very creative and frequently funny television. Thank you for trying to tackle themes about faith, love and family without trying to wrap everything up in a nice bow. Although the Gaffigans might be a wholesome family, their show still had plenty of bite to it, right up until the end.
Douglas Bursch is the author of Posting Peace: Why Social Media Divides Us and What We Can Do About It. He also hosts The Fairly Spiritual Show podcast.