Docuseries showcases podcast hosts’ talents, first-class travels

Since 2020, actors Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes have co-hosted a podcast together called “SmartLess.” Last year, they took the show out on a short national tour, and that adventure is documented in the six-part Max docuseries “SmartLess: On the Road,” which follows the celebrity friends and co-workers to stops on the East Coast, Midwest and then back to Los Angeles.

Perhaps the decision to shoot in black-and-white was meant to undercut some of the pampered Hollywood trappings of the trip. But director Sam Jones isn’t here to encourage his subjects to shed their well-honed veneer so much as simply document their first-class travels and neurotic conversational jabs. As a trio, Arnett, Bateman and Hayes are self-aware enough to poke fun at their rarefied status while also being disinclined to abandon the perks of said status.

It’s an accumulation of moments that give you a window into the lives of the rich and famous, while also showcasing their talents as performers. Because when they’re onstage playing off each other or interviewing a guest? They’re freewheeling and charming and know how to put on a good show.

It’s everything else that happens between those performances that’s such a curious blend of fascinating, off-putting and absorbing. They’re far from the worst behaved celebrities to walk the earth. But too often, they interact with their drivers and service workers as if everyone’s a bit player in their world (they usually catch themselves and apologize). They are forever staring at their phones, which is probably the result of being away from their loved ones, but maybe also reflects our collective reluctance to simply sit in a space and absorb what’s happening around us without the distractions of text messages and social media.

They travel by private plane and from the word go, there’s an edge to their dynamic. Often it’s Hayes looking on amused as Bateman and Arnett needle one another. Is this for the camera or is this their typical interplay?

There’s an extraordinary amount of conversation about food. What they want to eat, how much they’re eating and why is the other guy eating that? Bateman’s running commentary about his companion’s food choices has a sweaty, judgmental undercurrent to it that suggests growing up in show business — an ecosystem where actors are often subject to pointless and mean-spirited comments about their weight and appearance — has done a number on him.

Their audiences, they quickly realize, aren’t coming for thoughtful conversations with an

MIT physicist. That kind of interview might work on the podcast normally, but it goes down like a lead balloon onstage. For these live performances, people want to see them riff with fellow celebrities like Will Ferrell, Matt Damon and Conan O’Brien. So the guys pivot and learn as they go.

Financially and careerwise, an endeavor like the “SmartLess” podcast is just gravy. But you can see why they would be drawn to such a low-fi project that asks them to tap into their natural charms and curiosity, paired with a desire to be around one another in a loosely structured format.

And as travels go, theirs are fairly low-key. By middle age, maybe they’re wondering if this is more trouble than it’s worth, no matter the five-star accommodations nor the endorphin rush they get from being onstage.

Back at the hotel, Arnett stares at his bed, lost in thought. “When I was a younger man, we would’ve just torn it up. And now

I’m just thinking, like, how early is too early for me to go to sleep?”

MAX Jason Bateman, from left, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes are seen in their hotel in “SmartLess: On the Road.”