It’s difficult to think there may be another show that split viewers down the middle more than Weird City. The show hit YouTube Premium in 2019 with six episodes, likely to probably not get another season. Many loved it, and so many hated it. So it just really bad, or is it insanely good? There’s no definitive answer. When TV fans are as divided as they are about a series like Weird City, it takes people back to the age old adage of ‘different strokes for different folks’. The only way to know for sure, is to watch it.
Weird City is penned as a comedy. It’s meant to elicit laughs, albeit in a creatively innovative way.
The title ‘weird city’ is a dead giveaway about what to expect from the show. There’s no hidden message in terms of how it intends to present itself. Because if there’s one thing it is, it’s weird. It takes place in a futuristic city where society is split into the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’, both sides separated by a literal checkpoint that keeps citizens of either side of the city apart. Within this dystopia, a random collections of stories are told that examines the everyday lives of the inhabitants. Everyone’s story is different, and is loosely tied in with the unusual nature of their community.
In terms of writing style, and directing, the show has been closely compared to that of Black Mirror. Where it seems viewers of the series missed the mark, was in assuming said comparison means that the show was to be taken seriously. This could not be more incorrect. Weird City is penned as a comedy. It’s meant to elicit laughs, albeit in a creatively innovative way. The episodes are also short, formatted like quick sketches that don’t try to stretch the odd subject matter too far past the show’s limits. It’s because the aim was comedy perhaps that those who disliked it took issue. Weird City is not typical of most situational comedies in that not everyone will get it. It’s highly unlikely everyone was even meant to get it. The acting can be over the top and the scripts can be outlandish, but it’s probably because these factors were implemented deliberately. No one sets out to make a bad film or TV series, but sometimes it’s not about being good or bad. Weird City was about taking risk, and honestly, saying it was risky is understating it. What’s most obvious, is that production team was searching for THEIR audience.
They succeeded, but as it turns out, it may just have not been big enough to justify another season. Money and viewership still matters in this racket, otherwise they’d have just kept churning out episodes. Alas, that is not how the business works and so it’s probable that Weird City’s first season was also the last season. On the other hand, the show has no continuity issues and characters come and go without issue. The show’s format lends itself the option to keep going if enough people jump on the bandwagon, and it’s still on YouTube.
