I'm at best a casual viewer of the series, catching it mostly on reruns but was never a devoted fan. I enjoyed those episodes I've seen but this among my favourites. Although the actor playing "Woody Allen" turns up the nebishy behaviour to 11 it never gets too obnoxious and becomes a fond tribute to those "early funny" films of Woody Allen . It's amusing as Maya begins to blur the line between fantasy and reality while dating this imposter but enjoys his company. After she realises that his delusion is too much for her and breaks up with him she receives a phone call from someone claiming to be Woody Allen. Thinking this is the imposter she begins to question the caller's authenticity. If you listen carefully the voice one the other end sure sounds like the real Woody. I cannot find evidence to substantiate this. Perhaps he wanted this little verbal cameo to remain a secret.
2 Reviews
Waggish Mash Note to Woody Allen
darryl-tahirali5 March 2024
Offering up a Woody Allen homage when the actor-writer-director was still relevant and scandals had not entirely trashed his reputation, "Just Shoot Me!" creator Steven Levitan pens a witty satire on fame and hero worship spotlighting Laura San Giacomo and guest star Ed Crasnick that is thoroughly conversant in the Allen universe and that even takes a couple of sly swipes at him.
When Maya publishes an imaginary account of her dinner with her idol, she is surprised and naturally flattered when "Woody Allen" calls to praise her article. Of course, the "Woody" who then appears at the "Blush" offices is an imposter named Preston Beckman (Crasnick), but he looks and sounds sufficiently neurotic to charm Maya into some innocent dating even if he did appear unannounced outside her apartment window, although he at least brought Chinese takeout with him.
Suspicious Elliot digs up the dirt on Beckman, who had previously impersonated Little Richard and has obvious mental health issues (despite having become a millionaire selling office supplies online, enabling him to fund countless therapy sessions that would send the real Woody Allen into psychiatric ecstasy), finally convincing Maya that any relationship would be even more improbable than her article.
Levitan uses "Annie Hall," Maya's favorite movie, as the template for his amusing, sometimes hilarious "My Dinner with Woody," even framing the episode with Maya telling Allen's opening and closing fourth-wall jokes from the movie---in reverse order---to the audience (or at least one unimpressed bystander), as Crasnick indeed has Allen's shtick down pat, perhaps a little too pat, but is believable as the sincere if deluded schlub seeking a connection with Maya.
Montage sequences reinforce the "Annie Hall" connection although allusions to other Allen movies crop up along with a pointed rip at Allen's follow-up to "Annie Hall," "Interiors," his too-deadly serious Ingmar Bergman exercise that might be its own black humor. Even the episode's opening and closing credits replicate Allen's style, unassuming white typeface on a black background although the opening credits could have used a puckish Swing Era jazz tune to accent them ("Me and My Shadow," perhaps?).
"My Dinner with Woody" belongs mostly to San Giacomo, who runs through a gamut of feelings with professional appeal, with only a thin second thread sparked by Nina's having accidentally given Jack breath-freshener drops instead of eyedrops that leaves him temporarily blind and that is played mostly for predictable laughs. Otherwise, Levitan uses Maya as the stalking horse for his waggish mash note to Woody Allen, and it works to generally good effect, la-de-da, la-de-da.
REVIEWER'S NOTE: What makes a review "helpful"? Every reader of course decides that for themselves. For me, a review is helpful if it explains why the reviewer liked or disliked the work or why they thought it was good or not good. Whether I agree with the reviewer's conclusion is irrelevant. "Helpful" reviews tell me how and why the reviewer came to their conclusion, not what that conclusion may be. Differences of opinion are inevitable. I don't need "confirmation bias" for my own conclusions. Do you?
When Maya publishes an imaginary account of her dinner with her idol, she is surprised and naturally flattered when "Woody Allen" calls to praise her article. Of course, the "Woody" who then appears at the "Blush" offices is an imposter named Preston Beckman (Crasnick), but he looks and sounds sufficiently neurotic to charm Maya into some innocent dating even if he did appear unannounced outside her apartment window, although he at least brought Chinese takeout with him.
Suspicious Elliot digs up the dirt on Beckman, who had previously impersonated Little Richard and has obvious mental health issues (despite having become a millionaire selling office supplies online, enabling him to fund countless therapy sessions that would send the real Woody Allen into psychiatric ecstasy), finally convincing Maya that any relationship would be even more improbable than her article.
Levitan uses "Annie Hall," Maya's favorite movie, as the template for his amusing, sometimes hilarious "My Dinner with Woody," even framing the episode with Maya telling Allen's opening and closing fourth-wall jokes from the movie---in reverse order---to the audience (or at least one unimpressed bystander), as Crasnick indeed has Allen's shtick down pat, perhaps a little too pat, but is believable as the sincere if deluded schlub seeking a connection with Maya.
Montage sequences reinforce the "Annie Hall" connection although allusions to other Allen movies crop up along with a pointed rip at Allen's follow-up to "Annie Hall," "Interiors," his too-deadly serious Ingmar Bergman exercise that might be its own black humor. Even the episode's opening and closing credits replicate Allen's style, unassuming white typeface on a black background although the opening credits could have used a puckish Swing Era jazz tune to accent them ("Me and My Shadow," perhaps?).
"My Dinner with Woody" belongs mostly to San Giacomo, who runs through a gamut of feelings with professional appeal, with only a thin second thread sparked by Nina's having accidentally given Jack breath-freshener drops instead of eyedrops that leaves him temporarily blind and that is played mostly for predictable laughs. Otherwise, Levitan uses Maya as the stalking horse for his waggish mash note to Woody Allen, and it works to generally good effect, la-de-da, la-de-da.
REVIEWER'S NOTE: What makes a review "helpful"? Every reader of course decides that for themselves. For me, a review is helpful if it explains why the reviewer liked or disliked the work or why they thought it was good or not good. Whether I agree with the reviewer's conclusion is irrelevant. "Helpful" reviews tell me how and why the reviewer came to their conclusion, not what that conclusion may be. Differences of opinion are inevitable. I don't need "confirmation bias" for my own conclusions. Do you?
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