Uneven ‘Bupkis’ ranges from absurd to appealing
I was taken by surprise by “The King of Staten Island,” Pete Davidson’s semi-autobiographical 2020 movie. The coming-of-age story brought out a soulful side of the former “Saturday Night Live” player that I hadn’t expected to find. His new Peacock series is less revelatory and a lot more uneven, as it moves through some of the same territory as the film. Still, it offers some fleeting pleasures along the way, from both Davidson and his amusing costars and guest stars.
This time, Davidson is playing a heightened version of himself. The Pete on the show sits in the basement of the Staten Island home he shares with his doting mother, tracking all the Internet hate directed at him and his playboy life. He’s not self-pitying so much as he’s just tired of being a tabloid figure and a player. But he doesn’t know how to change course, and it doesn’t help that he takes plenty of drugs, hangs around with a crew of enablers, and may not have fully processed his firefighter father’s death on 9/11.
Pete gets some motivation for introspection and action thanks to his straight-talking grandfather, Joe, played by Joe Pesci, who is one of the show’s best pleasures. Joe urges Pete to grow up, saying, “All you do is try to make yourself happy. You should try to make somebody else happy once in a while.” And Pete listens, not only because Joe is a tough guy but because he has cancer and has been given a dire prognosis.
“Bupkis” — the Yiddish word means, essentially, “nothing” — is largely a domestic comedy, as Pete spends time with Joe, his mother (played by Edie Falco), and his uncle (Bobby Cannavale). He has different misadventures in each of the eight episodes — there’s the one in which he tries to take care of a child for an afternoon, the one that’s a spoof of the “Fast & Furious” franchise — but he generally winds up back with his family. Meanwhile, famous faces pop up all over the place, including Jon Stewart, Sebastian Stan, Ray Romano, Steve Buscemi, and Al Gore.
Watching the season, which premiered on Thursday, I found my opinion in flux, particularly as some episodes are much better than others. At points, the show tries too hard to shock — the first episode, in particular — and I was annoyed. At other points, it was funny and even touching, as our woeful and numbed-out hero tries to work through big issues involving mental health and drug abuse. Underneath the absurdities, at times, there’s an honest tone that appeals.