Series created by Pat Bishop, Chris Estrada, and Matt Ingebretson
Starring Chris Estrada, Frankie Quinones, and Michael Imperioli
Season 1 now streaming on Hulu

by Billy Russell, Staff Writer

Every so often, you’re on the ground floor of something you know is going to be big. For me, living here in the States, I wasn’t privy to the TV show Spaced, so my first exposure to Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost was through Shaun of the Dead. These guys seemingly came out of nowhere and I knew, as soon as I saw it, they were going to be big. Decades later, they’re still going strong.

I remember my dad famously telling me that when he saw Mystic Pizza his reaction was that the movie itself was okay, but that Julia Roberts? Mark his words, he told everyone, she’s going to be a star.

You can just tell. There’s a palpable energy you can feel when you know someone is going to be a big deal, and they’ve gotten their big break. 

Frankie Quinones as the ne’er-do-well-though-he-tries Luis in Hulu’s new series This Fool has that certain “it factor.” He steals every scene he’s in and, mark my words, as much as I hate that phrase, in just a few short years we’ll be sick of him from overexposure. He’s hilarious. He can take an unfunny line and turn it into gold.

That’s not to say that Mr. Quinones is doing the sole lifting among the cast. This Fool is an outrageously funny show that has heart, brains, and characters that are conflicted with themselves. They try—and often fail—to grow as people in a world that constantly challenges them. Chris Estrada, co-creator, plays Julio, the main character. He works at a nonprofit called “Hugs Not Thugs” that rehabilitates former convicts, and sells adorable cupcakes baked by them to pay for necessary materials to help them find work and housing. 

Michael Imperioli of Sopranos and Goodfellas fame plays against type as Minister Payne, an angry Unitarian who wants to do his part to make the world a better place. He espouses pearls of wisdom while his own life is falling apart.

Michelle Ortiz plays Maggie, Julio’s on-again-off-again girlfriend. Laura Patalono plays his mom. And Julia Vera plays his grandma. Julio still lives at home with multiple generations of family all living under the same roof and privacy is a pipe dream for them all. Poor Luis can’t even find a moment to masturbate in peace.

Luis, fresh out of prison, is Julio’s cousin. He joins Hugs Not Thugs, under the supervision of Julio. They butt heads, they challenge each other, and they learn from each other. This is usual sitcom stuff, but at the end of the day, what matters is how well a story is told. This Fool does have things to say about the prison industrial complex. It has an opinion on systemic racism. And it says what it has to say intelligently, with grace. Its primary function, though, as a comedy, is to make us laugh. And it does. It does so gloriously. This Fool is, without exaggeration, one of the funniest premiers I have ever seen. It's in a top-tier-class of comedies that hit gold right out of the gate, like Broad City.

This Fool harkens back to an older style of television storytelling. Not every episode is part of some overall, larger narrative. Of course, there are story elements that carry over from one episode to the other, but for the most part, each episode tells a standalone story. If an episode ends with what appears to be a cliffhanger, that cliffhanger is a one-off gag. If I had it my way, I would go whole hog and greenlight it for a full 24 episodes per season, but that’s just me, and I’m greedy. This Fool is at its best when it’s throwing stories at a wall just to see what sticks. My personal highlight of the series is one where Luis comes to terms with his Austin Powers obsession. In what could have been an embarrassing plot with outdated, unfunny references, it becomes a loving tribute, filled with both all-too obvious and sly references.

It’s also not afraid to show its characters, who are at heart good people, behaving despicably. It strikes a fine balance. They don’t veer into the sociopathy of It’s Always Sunny, but they do often bend and betray their own rules whenever it’s convenient. I’m a sucker for shows that aren’t afraid to delve into the dark sides of their well-meaning characters. I love me a comfort show like Schitt’s Creek, that is wrapped in warm, positive emotions, but a show like This Fool, that tackles some very heavy issues, has to be in tune with a harsher, unforgiving reality.

For all its ability to show us characters who are less-than-perfect, This Fool seems to take place in a fantasy version of LA, in which gentrification is never mentioned. I feel like every show about the Mexican-American experience in Los Angeles is primarily about gentrification. I understand it’s an issue that deserves a platform and needs to be discussed widely, in both fiction and in reality, but there’s something refreshing about the version of LA as seen in This Fool, where skyrocketing rent doesn’t seem to be an issue. It’s a lived-in, dirty fantasy world, sort of like if Star Wars took place here. Buildings are crumbling and covered in graffiti, and the air is thick with smog, but mostly things are okay. It’s a nice fantasy to have.

This Fool is comedy TV at its best. It’s escapism that has something to say about this world we live in. It balances a lot of acts and a lot of tones, and manages to both have its cake, and eat it, too. The writing is top-notch, and the chemistry between the two leads is a classic pairing. Chris Estrada and Frankie Quinones are a duo with an instant likability. They’re like a Laurel and Hardy, or a Chris Farley and David Spade or, like I said before, a Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. I hope there’s a season two, and I hope it can continue this trend. It has the ability to be one of the best comedies of the decade.