Season 1 - 8 episodes (2017)
Watch American Vandal Season 1 on Netflix
Created by: Tony Yacenda, Dan Perrault
Starring: Tyler Alvarez, Jimmy Tatro, Griffin Gluck, Calum Worthy, G. Hannelius
Rated: TV-MA
Plot
This half-hour true-crime satire explores the aftermath of a costly high school prank that left twenty-seven faculty cars vandalized with phallic images. An aspiring sophomore documentarian investigates the controversial and potentially unjust expulsion of troubled senior (and known dick-drawer) Dylan Maxwell. Similar to its iconic true-crime predecessors, this addictive series will leave one question on everyone's minds until the very end, who drew the dicks?
Verdict
It's a satire that doesn't go for the cheap jokes. The premise is absurd and the comedy comes from how serious the event is taken as it exploits the usual true crime tropes. It's one thing to make fun of these shows, but another thing to do that and make something equally enthralling.
This could just as easily be a true crime fictional series first and a comedy second.
It's a rather grounded show in that you will know people just like these characters from students to teachers.
Watch it.
Review
This was created by Tony Yacenda (Pillow Talking) & Dan Perrault (Honest Trailers), with Dan Lagana (Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous) as show runner.
Dylan the dick drawer. |
The crime: vandalism to the dick degree. |
Peter uncovering the truth. |
Eye witness Alex Trimboli |
Did Christa's failure to make the football team push her to revenge? |
These jokes could have been incorporated into a parody that goes for over the top. It's easy to see this as some kind of SNL skit, but the approach this show takes keeps you watching. This is a carefully crafted crime that take you along a carefully planned ride. It doesn't just make fun of the genre, it captures why these documentary series capture our fascination. This is a slice of life. Is the humor juvenile? Yes, frequently, but the conceit is that a high schooler perpetrated the crime and made this series so you can't knock that. It's the authentic aspect of this series that keeps you watching.
That's what makes this so engaging, from half concocted plans to just how dumb they can be and their petty issues. There are feuds, lies, and plenty of stupidity. It definitely caters to teen potty humor which can be divisive. There are a lot of dick jokes and images and it is silly just how seriously this case is taken. Peter creates diagrams and reenactment, even analysing the content of dick drawings, discovering it's all about the ball hairs.
This show creates a world and builds characters. This ridiculous premise is fully developed. While comedic moments arise, I never thought Dylan acted out of character for a typical teen. He's comical, because I went to school with a kid like that. He didn't do something stupid for a cheap laugh. It was earned. This show wants to earn it's laughs and it does.
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