'Bupkis' Is One of TIME's 50 Most Underappreciated TV Shows

Pete Davidson is either the luckiest man in Hollywood or a guy cursed with an undeserved bad rap. Few seem to have moderate opinions on the comedian, and how you view him likely depends on how much of his fame you attribute to innate talent and how much you write him off as a cynically self-dramatizing zillennial, milking his drug issues, mental health struggles, and parade of superstar girlfriends for attention. His short-lived 2023 Peacock comedy Bupkis offered evidence for both sides, beginning with a sophomoric groaner of a premiere that you should absolutely skip. If you move on to the rest, though, you’ll find a disarmingly thoughtful, semi-autobiographical show that interrogates the bizarre experience of 21st century infamy through the hooded eyes of a man uniquely qualified to speak on the subject. One episode puts Pete in conversation with John Mulaney, who also appears as himself, about their very different reputations. Another finds his misery exacerbated by a Christmas spent shooting a war movie opposite its star Brad Pitt’s stand-in, in a rare evocation of how impersonal blockbuster filmmaking has become. While it works better on an episodic basis than as a season-leng...