Round Two: How to Make It in America

How to Make It in America: Season 1, Episode 2 “Crisp” (C-)

So what we have here are two guys who have absolutely no idea what they’re doing and think that the best use of their time and their surprisingly impressive ability to make connections is to ignore the advice of professionals and fumble their way through making a new denim jeans line. It hardly seems a worthwhile endeavor, and the prospect of following along with this show is just as unappealing and dim. Nevertheless, I’m planning to stick with it for at least a few more episodes in case it does get better with time as HBO’s previous two comedies did. I suppose the title suggests that it’s all about learning a lesson or two in order to hit and big. I just hope the lessons learned following failures amount to something rather than just repeated failures. I’m increasingly unimpressed by Bryan Greenberg as the lead for this show, and part of that should be attributed to the fact that he delivered a similarly bland and boring performance in this past weekend’s “The Good Guy,” and I’m starting to think this man just isn’t capable of much. I’m also unsurprised by the lacking turn by Lake Bell as Ben’s ex-girlfriend who can’t seem to stay out of his life. While I have liked Victor Rasuk in the past, he’s simply too front-and-center in this show and never seems to pipe down. It looks like Luis Guzman’s bad boy cousin Rene is going to take a more active role in the show, and that likely means bankrolling their denim operation in exchange for a profit down the road. I can’t imagine that will go very well, but hey, that’s the point, isn’t it?