Weird women over 40 dont often get their own comedies.
They play the wacky sidekick or the eccentric mother, not the star.
But hardcore fans know her best for 2012sMaria Bamford: the special special special!
Credit: Saeed Adyani/Netflix
Im a 45-year-old woman whos clearly sun-damaged!
And I have a show!
What a great late-in-life opportunity!
Shes being sarcasticor maybe shes not?
Marias manager (Fred Melamed) transforms into a lamb.
Her agent (Ana Gasteyer) plots how to kill every person she sees.
When someone compares Bamford to a Samoyed/husky mix, the camera cuts to an actual husky, watching TV.
says the dog, offended.
The tone is as manic as Bamford herself: She was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder in real life.
WatchingLady Dynamite, you might feel as if shes grabbing your hand and yanking you forward.
Characters talk fast and walk fast.
Marias L.A. neighborhood is hypercolored, as if built by someone whos watched too many cartoons.
Like inUnbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, tension radiates behind that relentlessly upbeat energy.
Shes forcing you to get inside her brain.
Flashbacks show her getting treatment as a child in Duluth, where her therapist encourages her to get angry.
Isnt there anyone here who chaps your crapper?
When Bamford says no, the therapist frowns.
Donna, she says, pointing to a sad-looking patient, is a straight-up B.
Our heroine hangs her head in shame.
Its broader critiques of the industry can feel too easy.
The racist-sitcom episode would be more provocative if it didnt just deal with white-person guilt.
Its a question so troubling, you have to laugh.A
