"acting"

2018 · 4 Seasons · HBO · Dark Comedy

Barry ran for four seasons on HBO and left behind one of the most confident, inventive half-hour shows in recent memory. Bill Hader built something that started as a dark comedy about a hitman in an acting class and evolved into a full-blown examination of violence, identity, and the stories people tell themselves. The supporting cast, particularly Anthony Carrigan as NoHo Hank and Henry Winkler as Gene Cousineau, elevated every episode they touched. Later seasons pushed harder into darkness, and the finale swung for the fences in ways that divided some viewers. But the ambition never faltered, and the show's willingness to follow its characters into genuinely uncomfortable territory is what separates it from most comedies on television.