Nick Kroll and John Mulaney are quite the comedy duo. Each very individually funny, they work excellently together, doing everything from a Broadway play to hosting award shows to voice acting. However, Big Mouth is likely the funniest thing either of them have ever been a part of, at least that I’ve seen.
Synopsis: Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg, childhood best friends, got together to create a show based on their pubescent years in the suburbs of New York City. Thus birthed best friends Nick Birch (Kroll) and Andrew Glouberman (voiced by Mulaney). Nick is a late bloomer, appearing small and underdeveloped for his age, while Andrew has hit puberty early, even growing a little mustache at an early age. They’re good friends with Jessi Glaser, a smart girl with difficult parents who’s just hitting puberty, Jay Bilzerian, a strange kid obsessed with magic and sex, and Missy Foreman-Greenwald, a nerdy girl who’s just beginning her adventure into puberty.
The five are all going through puberty in different ways, but each have a “hormone monster” governing their lives. Maurice, Andrew’s hormone monster, is rambunctious and frequently appears at inappropriate times, thus making Andrew do very inappropriate things for and with his body. Connie is the hormone monstress for Jessi and Missy, encouraging the girls to give in to what their bodies want.
Hallmarks: Big Mouth is very open and forward about the pubescent years, and is thus willing to discuss normally taboo topics (at least for TV) like masturbation, menstruation, and sexuality. As such, the show gets a little awkward and inappropriate at times, but that is entirely intentional. Since it is on Netflix, Big Mouth can break some barriers that network television cannot, and much of the humor and topics would not fly on any ordinary television channel.
There are also tons of fantastic comedians who guest star as one-off or even recurring characters. It is one of the few shows in which I had previously heard of all the actors in the opening credits, and that kind of star power only adds to the quality of the program.
Favorite Episode: The show follows a narrative, and you should not watch it out of order, but I would probably say my favorite episode is season one, episode four, “Sleepover: A Harrowing Ordeal of Emotional Brutality.” Nick and Andrew go over to Jay’s house for a sleepover and meet his nightmarish family, while Jessi hosts a sleepover with Missy and two popular girls from school, Devin and Lola.
I would recommend Big Mouth to anyone who can stomach inappropriate and personal topics. The jokes are not offensive, per se, but as I said above, many of the topics are generally considered taboo. Then again, how could you faithfully make a show about puberty if you’re not willing to discuss some uncomfortable topics? Puberty is uncomfortable, and the show accurately reflects that.
If you can get beyond that, and are willing to witness puberty once again, I cannot recommend this show more. I don’t know if I can name a show that made me laugh more than this one.
Featured image: from https://www.indiewire.com/2018/11/big-mouth-season-3-netflix-renewed-1202021599/
I agree completely that this show may not be for everyone, and initially I clicked this post for another opinion on the show, because at first I was not a fan. I have never been the biggest fan of these kinds of shows, but I can definitely say that this one made me laugh much harder than others did. I like the different aspects of your blog, such as the included hallmark and favorite episode. I am always looking for new shows to watch, so I look forward to reading more of your blog posts!
I never really watched adult cartoons– until Big Mouth. Everyone kept talking about it so I finally made the decision to start watching it. I remember being incredibly grossed out in the first scene, but as I watched the show, I realized that I kind of liked being grossed out. The sexual innuendos often make me cringe, but they are usually so cringey that they’re hilarious. After watching Big Mouth, I watched Rick and Morty and Bojack Horseman, which are two adult cartoons that I think Big Mouth fans may enjoy.