May 20, 2018 (2018-05-20) – December 13, 2021 (2021-12-13)
Joe Pera Talks with You is an American comedy television series created by Joe Pera for Adult Swim. The show stars Joe Pera as a fictionalized version of himself, a mild mannered choir teacher in Michigan who directly addresses the audience about seemingly mundane, everyday topics such as dance, pancakes, minerals, etc. Diving into these topics, viewers get an introspective glimpse into his slowly changing life in the Upper Peninsula and the interaction with people around him.
The series was produced by Pera’s Chestnut Walnut Unlimited, Cartoon Network Studios’ live-action division (Factual Productions, Inc, and Alive and Kicking, Inc.), and Williams Street. It entered development following the success of the 2016 specialsJoe Pera Talks You to Sleep, which was animated, and Joe Pera Helps You Find the Perfect Christmas Tree, airing as part of Infomercials, with the first season premiering on May 20, 2018. The second season premiered on December 6, 2019.[1][2] A third and final season aired from November to December 2021.[3][4] In July 2022, Pera announced the show was canceled after three seasons.[5][6] Reruns aired on Cartoon Network's ACME Night programming block starting from 2023.
Joe Pera Talks with You received critical acclaim, with most praise going to its unique writing, slow-paced and earnest tone, and witty humor; the show's early cancellation similarly drew strong reactions and tributes from critics. Screen Rant compares the show's sincere tone favorably to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood,[7] while Vice hailed the show as "the best thing Adult Swim has ever done".[8]
Synopsis
The series stars comedian Joe Pera as a fictionalized version of himself, living in Marquette, Michigan and teaching choir at a local middle school. He talks directly to the viewer about everyday subject matter such as iron, Sunday breakfast, fall drives, and sleeping. Between these lessons, viewers get a glimpse into Pera's quiet life in the Upper Peninsula.
The show is not heavily plot-driven, with each episode revolving around a single lesson; however, emotional arcs are built up over the season as the show goes on.[9]
In the first season, Joe meets his new neighbors, the Melskys, and his girlfriend and workmate, Sarah, a staunch survivalist. As the two got to know each other better, Joe discovers that she is paranoid about bad things in the future; she prepares for any eventualities with a bunker filled with supplies to last her for years. Joe grapples with the reality that the world can be a scary, hard place. This realization goes against his optimistic view of life.
During the second season, Joe attempts over the course of the season to build a bean arch in his garden. The arch eventually grows to full maturity in the finale. Joe also deals with a loss in the family following his grandma’s death. Joe attempts to cope better with the grief by talking directly to the viewers about the matter.
For the third season, Joe is busy helping people around him handle everyday tasks, while dealing with the fallout of his grandmother's death, including the money he gets from selling her house. In the finale, Joe purchases an empty land lot from his neighbor with the money, takes his girlfriend to the lot for a viewing, and professes his wish of building a cabin there.
Characters
Joe Pera (Joe Pera) is a self-proclaimed "soft-handed choir teacher" at Little Deer Middle School in Marquette. Though he is very introspective, with a vast knowledge of specific concepts, he expresses naïveté in his social interactions.
Mike Melsky (Conner O'Malley) is Joe's neighbor. The two meet in the show's first episode, when Mike attempts to buy Joe's house after neighborhood kids place a For Sale sign in his yard as a prank. He is generally sarcastic, short-tempered, and incredulous towards Joe.
Sue Melsky (Jo Scott) is the wife of Mike Melsky. She is more friendly and accepting towards Joe.
Gene Gibson (Gene Kelly), Joe's best friend. He likes to help Joe teach his lessons, and often ends up giving Joe advice in the process.
Sarah Conner (Jo Firestone) is a new band teacher working at Little Deer Middle School. Many of her beliefs are rooted in conspiracies and fears for the future, as evidenced by her construction of a fortified basement below her house. She becomes Joe's love interest over the course of the first season.
"Nana" Josephine Pera (Nancy Cornell in season 1, Pat Vern Harris in season 2) is Joe's grandmother, based on his real grandmother of the same name.
Gordy (Mark Borchardt) is a janitor at Little Deer Middle School and an acquaintance of Joe and Sarah.
Gus (Fitzgerald William) is Joe's lazy basset hound.
Predecessors
The first Pera project to appear on Adult Swim was the animated short, Joe Pera Talks You to Sleep. It was aired as part of the network's Infomercials series on March 21, 2016. The short was animated and directed by Kieran O'Hare, who had previously animated a Joe Pera comedy bit for his YouTube channel. O'Hare applied the same animation style to the Adult Swim special.
On December 9, 2016,[10] a second special, Joe Pera Helps You Find the Perfect Christmas Tree, premiered on Adult Swim. The live-action special was more tonally similar to what would become Joe Pera Talks with You. Like the series, it was directed by Marty Schousboe and written by Pera alongside Dan Licata, and made by the same production team under the name Rent Now Productions. It also takes place in the same location in Michigan where Pera works as a choir teacher. It features characters that would later appear in the series, such as Gene, the Melsky family and Joe's Nana Josephine. Differences include Joe's dog Gus being a black bloodhound (or possibly a black lab mix) instead of a basset hound portrayed by Fitzgerald William, Joe living in a different house, and Joe's co-worker and love interest Sarah, portrayed in the series by Jo Firestone, being absent entirely. These differences imply the special and series are not within the same continuity. Joe's Nana Josephine was also played by his real-life grandmother, Josephine Pera, who died in 2017.[11] The character Gene Gibson is also present in the Christmas special, but not portrayed by real-life camera operator, Gene Kelly (not to be confused with the actor of the same name), as he was in the series. Pera appeared on local talk shows to promote the special.[12]
At Sue Melsky's request, Joe goes to her brother Dave's bachelor party in the woods with Mike, where Mike reveals that Sue kicked him out of the house. Afterwards, the Melskys' kids join Joe and Sarah for dinner.
Joe and Sarah sit in bed and scroll through various videos on their phone all night, before discovering that Joe's bean arch has fully grown. Guest stars Janeane Garofalo and John Ventimiglia.
Inspired by the movie Rat Race, Joe organizes a scavenger hunt amongst his friends and neighbors to find $115, but only Brad Cam and Big Jeff participate in it, and they team up to boot. While Joe is waiting with some other friends for Brad and Jeff to return he gets an urgent call about his Nana. When Brad Cam and Big Jeff return to Joe's with the money, Sarah reveals that Joe's Nana has passed away.
Joe shows the audience how to pack a lunch, but it only takes two minutes, so Joe tells the story of how Mike made up with Sue and how he got sprayed by a skunk.
22
13
"Joe Pera Talks with You on the First Day of School"
Joe Pera narrates stories over a combination of unused footage from seasons one and two of the series, and stock footage. Features the song "Your Dog" by Advance Base.[27]
Joe has the intention to share the benefits of the traditional mid-west second fridge, but these plans are thwarted by local youths. Joe has a run in with Nicole Melsky in class.
Joe wants to congratulate his class on a first semester well done with a movie, but struggles to find something new. He ponders why certain professions have political leans.
The Melsky boys invite Joe to fly their drone, but only because they needed a driver as Mike has recently gotten a DUI. Joe shows Sara his footage from the drone and they try to contact people on her ham radio.
30
7
"Joe Pera Shows You How to Keep Functioning in Mid-Late Winter"
Joe schedules his days full of activities to beat the winter blues, including a stop by Gene's where he is mesmerized by a video he put together. Sarah goes skiing with Sue Melsky and her friends and ends up getting into a fight about politics. After she gets into an accident the ladies come to her assistance and show that friendships can withstand disagreements.
An open house is scheduled for Nana's house, which is too much for Joe to handle, so he goes to the Melskys' to watch the NFL playoffs, to distract himself.
Joe builds his chair, but can't stop thinking about Gene's 100-year plan. Sarah is down in the dumps after another accident. Joe makes a decision about what to do with the funds he received from selling his Nana's house.
Notes: Double-length episode
Reception
Joe Pera Talks with You has received critical acclaim, with much of the praise going towards the show's unique tone and writing. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has an approval rating of 100% with an average rating of 8/10 based on 6 reviews.[34] In a 4/5 stars review for Common Sense Media, Martin Brown noted the subversiveness of Pera's character, noting, "the socially awkward comedian/host is a recognizable type at this point. The twist here is that [...] instead of his social awkwardness getting him into trouble or making him the butt of the joke, it's merely the surface of a thoughtful, confident character who knows who he is. [...] The result is a sweet, thoughtful comedy about the small joys of everyday life."[35]
The A.V. Club's Erik Adams writes that "It’s a particular type of funny, of the soft-spoken, deadpan, and disarming type that Pera practices onstage and on the talk-show circuit. It’s one of his many gifts as a performer, the way his understated wardrobe, deliberate delivery, and nervous body language set an expectation for awkwardness, before Pera pulls the rug out from under the audience with the confidence of his pacing and the precision of his writing."[36]Indiewire's Steve Greene gave the second season an A− and wrote "This is nice. There’s no irony, no rug pull, no cynicism in what he says. Just one person grateful for something that hasn’t even arrived yet. That’s the show in a nutshell: a chronicle of a guy so enthusiastic about the tiny pleasures of life that he’s even happy about potential things".[37] Josh Terry of Vice hailed the show as an "essential salve against cynicism: It's relaxing and gentle TV that revels more in its meditative beauty than its eccentric comedy".[8]
Cancellation
The show's early cancellation drew eulogies and tributes from critics. In announcing the cancellation, Polygon's Ethan Warren acclaimed the show as "a deft three-act exploration of joy, terror, grief, and love", and as the "handbook for navigating compounding crises. As long as there are chairs, and the people to sit on them, there must be hope".[38] Writing for Collider, Chase Hutchinson emphasized on the uniqueness of the show up until the last season: "While his appearance is aggressively ordinary, Pera made something that was truly and brilliantly one-of-a-kind. To even try to compare it to anything feels impossible as, even when it played around with genre and poked fun at itself, it remains an enigmatic work all its own that felt like it was still evolving".[39] And, in a tribute for The Ringer titled ‘Joe Pera Talks With You’: In Praise of Joy, Tyler Parker honored the show as "the anti-cringe" of comedy, adding, "If cringe comedy is the theater of the uncomfortable—crank up tension, break with laughter, repeat—then consider Joe Pera Talks With You the anti-cringe. A warm blanket of a comedy. Mellow, joyful, and good-hearted".[40]
^Firestone was co-producer in season one and executive producer in season two.
^Mark Costa is executive producer for Factual Productions, Inc. in season one and Alive and Kicking, Inc. in season two.
^ abBoudreaux and Roig are executive producers for Alive and Kicking, Inc. beginning in season three. Both also served as executive producers for "Relaxing Footage with Joe Pera" under Factual Productions, Inc.
^ abcCrofford, Newman and Tang are executive producers for Williams Street, with Crofford serving during seasons one and two, Tang during season three, and Newman for the series' run.
