Take Three: How to Make It in America

How to Make It in America: Season 1, Episode 3 “Paper, Denim + Dollars” (C)

I’m still not any more impressed with this show than I have been since it first started two weeks ago. There’s no particular hook other than seeing these two guys continually come up against obstacles in their hapless quest to produce a line of denim jeans without ever considering any of their next steps. There’s something naively hopeful about the way they just keep on going, and the parting shot of the two wannabe entrepreneurs and their new partner is somewhat inspiring. The road to that point, however, is paved with dullness and unexciting scenes. These guys sure do go to a lot of parties, but the pair just isn’t all that interesting. Apparently the scope of this show is broader than just the two of them, however, since two characters come into very clear focus in tangential plotlines not at all connected to Ben and Cam, and even Eddie Kaye Thomas’ David Kaplan is only a phone call away. Rene is proving to be a force to be reckoned with, and it seems inevitable that he’ll get wind of the potential success of Ben and Cam’s operation and try to seize it out from under them. It’s strange that Lake Bell’s Rachel is being positioned as a central character since she’ll likely have no more to do with Ben than her brief meetings with him in the previous two episodes. Her boss does seem to be the most entertaining personality on this show, and the way she described her work as important was pretty amusing. Maybe the denim business will become part of their work sometime soon?