1. Its star might remind you of Cousin Balki. “Important Things With Demetri Martin is a sometimes bizarre pastiche of standup comedy, mini-sketches, animated images, studio bits and music centered by the dweeby but obviously talented Martin, who bears a physical resemblance to the young Bronson Pinchot… If Martin appears a bit awkward at the outset, the hope is that Stewart will help mold his latest spawn into a youth-skewing whiz kid, if not exactly the second coming of Stephen Colbert.” [THR]
2. They don’t have the design budget that Pee-wee did. “The set strands the comic in an over-large space paneled and carpeted like a New Jersey rec room and empty but for one appropriately 1970s-style biomorphic red chair; it isolates him from his audience to the point that the laughter sounds (ironically) canned. Some shots hang on just a little too long, leaving small, empty, slightly uncomfortable spaces.” [LAT]
3. The show might need some Adderall. “Bottom line is, this isn’t the best vehicle to show off the good sides of Demetri Martin’s comedy. Sure, the unfinished, random charm behind the sketches and jokes is immediately apparent, but the whole show suffers from a lack of natural flow — too labored in the sketches’ case; too disjointed when talking about the stand-up. Come to think of it, Important Things needs, most of all, some pause.” [A.V. Club]
4. We just liked the weird To Catch a Predator-tone of this one. “Does it all sound too clever, too meta? Martin’s low-key ease protects Important Things from getting mired in preciousness. His deadpan is warm, and sometimes he actually smiles. He’s 35, but he comes across like a kid who’s reached that age when he challenges his parents’ instructions like a little lawyer, taking apart their words to point out the loopholes. But he seems like a happy kid, too, and one that can make you smile.” [Boston Globe]
5. It’s worth watching more than once. “The first episode of Important Things With Demetri Martin is much like the comedian himself: Somewhat aloof and not quite sure how to connect with a studio audience while making wry, Seinfeld-esque observations about life’s random events. Both his delivery and the show improve in installment No. 2, and one could make a case that by the time the season wraps up, he may have found his comedic groove … if only he would blink occasionally.” [Variety]