# Crashing (2017)

> A standup comic whose wife has been unfaithful reevaluates his life while chasing work in the New York comedy scene.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/60424

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 24
- Episode runtime: 30 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: comedy, drama
- Created by: Pete Holmes
- Network: HBO
- Cast: Pete Holmes, Artie Lange, Lauren Lapkus, T.J. Miller, George Basil, Julia Shiplett, Gary Gulman, Jaboukie Young-White
- TMDB rating: 7.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5037914/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: cringe-tinged, raw, wry, self-deprecating, awkward, melancholic

## What critics say

Audiences rate the series positively, praising its candid, semi-autobiographical take on comedy life and marital collapse.

## Synopsis

Crashing (2017-2019) is an American HBO comedy drama series created by Pete Holmes for HBO. Pete Holmes stars as a standup comic whose wife's infidelity knocks his life off its axis, sending him into the grinding, networking-heavy New York City comedy scene. Artie Lange plays Artie Lange, a real-life comic whose blunt, self-destructive energy drags Pete into trouble, while Lauren Lapkus plays Jess, the woman who pulls Pete toward a new, uncertain life. George Basil appears as Leif, a fellow comic whose friendship keeps Pete tethered to the scene. The engine of the show is simple: Pete wants to rebuild his footing and his career, but every club set, bad booking and awkward encounter exposes how badly he is coming apart. Across three seasons of eight episodes each, the series moves as one continuing story rather than a case of the week, following Pete from one humiliating night to the next. Its tone is cringe-tinged and raw, blending wry observational humor with painful self-examination in a deliberately awkward register. Fans of Louie, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Enlightened will find resonance in its confessional honesty, its comic self-mockery and its portrait of a man who keeps performing while his life falls apart.

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