Say goodbye to your weekend. The entire first season of the Netflix original comedy Love drops on Feb. 19, and the marathon potential is strong. Love stars Community alum Gillian Jacobs and Super Fun Night actor Paul Rust as Mickey and Gus, two very different kinds of singletons who unexpectedly hit it off. The series comes from writer/producer Judd Apatow, who knows how to put the comedy first in any rom-com. In my opinion, one of the keys to a successful rom-com — series or movie — is a supporting ensemble equally as funny and engaging as the two leads. Love surrounds Jacobs and Rust with a quirky cast of characters, including Mickey’s radio psychologist boss. (Imagine Frasier Crane, but much less refined.) Brett Gelman plays Dr. Greg, and Love is the latest in a long string of oddball comic characters for the actor.
I first got to know Gelman in the short-lived Matthew Perry series Go On, where he played one of the eccentric members of a grief support group. But the actor/comedian had already racked up tons of credits by then, from sitcoms to improv to stand-up to podcast hosting. A quick search of the prolific Gelman’s name on YouTube pulls up pages of results, and I’ve culled them down to a definitive shortlist. These six clips will give you a crash course on Brett Gelman and his brand of comedy before you begin your Love marathon.
1. In Bed With Joan
First of all: RIP, Joan Rivers. Gelman dropped by the late comic's webseries to lounge with a legend and promote the FX sitcom Married. The conversation ranges from the characters he's created to his prophetic bar mitzvah theme: "Late Night With Brett Gelman."
2. Go On
I'm still not over this show's cancellation, and I don't know that I ever will be. It's a tricky thing to explore grief in comedy and this sitcom managed it, with sincerity. Chief among its many delights was Perry's weekly reaction to the next bit of weirdness out of the mouth of Gelman's Mr. K.
3. @midnight
Gelman appeared on the Comedy Central game show to speak out on a very important topic: the dangers of sex as a gateway drug to physical comedy.
4. Dinner With Friends
It's impossible to accurately describe Gelman's Adult Swim special, Dinner With Friends. But I'll try: imagine Jon Favreau's IFC celebrity chat series Dinner For Five and then add the plot twists of a telenovela. Or just buckle up, watch it, and find out.
5. Eagleheart
This comic cop show homage aired on Adult Swim for three seasons and co-starred Gelman as the titular character's dense partner, Brett Mobley. You'll never have to settle for a Walker, Texas Ranger rerun ever again.
6. The Other Guys
Gelman appeared briefly but memorably in the Mark Wahlberg/Will Ferrell buddy cop romp The Other Guys ,as Hal, the current lover of Ferrell's ex, Christinith. And he'd very much like to know: who wants some Arnie-Palmies?
I'll be putting my phone on silent and fully committing to Netflix this weekend. I can't wait to watch Gelman get weird again on Love.
Image: Suzanne Hanover/Netflix
