One of the benefits of having access to HBO Now is the ability to stream HBO's previously aired shows. That meant that I was able to share the entirety of Season 1 of Silicon Valley with my family before Season 2 began. Silicon Valley follows the trials and successes of a small tech start up as they try to bring their new software to market. Incubated in the house of Erlich Bachman (T.J. Miller), Richard Hendricks (Thomas Middleditch) is joined by Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani) and Gilfoyle (Martin Starr) when his compression algorithm is shown to be revolutionary.
Together the four work with "Jared" (Zach Woods), who has an understanding of business organization the others lack, and Monica (Amanda Crew), the lead from the venture capital firm that has given them seed money. They fight to develop the algorithm into a suite of products before a large tech firm, Hooli, can beat them to the punch. Season 1 ends with a major showdown between Hendricks' company, Pied Piper, and Hooli.
This is a mature audiences-focused half-hour comedy. One of Gilfoyle's lines in the premiere regarding the liquid shrimp he has just eaten nearly made my wife spit-take her mouthful of water across the room and she was hooked. Silicon Valley is the brain child of Mike Judge, John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky. In this case, the show probably is more reminiscent of Judge's Office Space than Beavis and Butthead, but there are shades of both in the humor and character interplay (especially Dinesh and Gilfoyle). Overall this is a show about young brilliant people who struggle to handle the success and opportunity they have earned.
Thomas Middleditch, who I thought was one of the best parts of the movie Fun Size, is great as the incredibly smart but socially inept Richard Hendricks dealing with situations he just isn't equipped to handle. Probably the funniest characters in the show are Jared (Woods) who is completely straight-laced compared to the others and Martin Starr is very good as he delivers the deadpan and dry humor as Gilfoyle. Season 1 is 8 episodes long and the first four episodes are very funny and while there is a bit of a lull during episodes 5, 6 and 7, stick with it. The season finale is some of the funniest television I have ever seen. We were all struggling for breath by the time it ended. Luckily, Silicon Valley has already been picked up for season 3 so Richard and the team will be working together for quite a while.
If you are looking for a mature comedy about twenty-somethings trying to make it as entrepreneurs, give Silicon Valley a shot. At times the show is some of the funniest television out there and overall is extremely good. Silicon Valley gets 4.5 Mick Happies. Can't wait for another episode to air tonight.
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