If you were asked about the best Netflix series, which one would you say? Stranger Things, perhaps? Squid Game? Or maybe a more modest production, like Don’t Touch the Cats, Tiger King, or Paquita Salas? Forget it: there’s one you haven’t seen, but as soon as you do, it will rank among the top of your list. You’ve never seen anything like its silly humor, nostalgic atmosphere, and twisted plot. There are only eight episodes, and they will leave you wide-eyed, I promise. Did you expect anything else from something called Saturday Morning All-Stars Hits?
Uh… Subs?
The complete series premiered on December 10, 2021, during the era when Netflix was experimenting and allowing new creators to do whatever they wanted, and that free environment is noticeable in every pore. However, it requires patience, because the first episodes are simply a comedic parody of the 80s with bits of animated series that openly mock Denver, the Last Dinosaur, the Care Bears, or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But, as SMASH continues to air, it becomes darker and darker, with a sense of humor as black as coal that will make you click “Next Episode” as soon as you get the chance.
The series recreates different Saturday morning shows and how the relationship between its two hosts, brothers Skip and Treybor, evolves from being colleagues to becoming fierce enemies along the way. However, the frenetic pace and the narrative influenced by YouTube, TikTok, and viral videos in general ensure that it never loses its spark, rhythm, or that underground feel at any moment. Additionally, starting from episode 4, the series begins to tell another story in the background: that of a missing teenager. And things get even more turbulent.
The creator, screenwriter, and lead actor (of both brothers and more characters) is Kyle Mooney, who at that time was in his final stage of Saturday Night Live and had already made the movie – equally strange, but equally fascinating – Brigsby Bear. Mooney was born from the best tradition of American humor, and in a time of clone sitcoms and humor carefully crafted to please everyone, it’s a delight to see that series like SMASH can exist. Although, of course, not everyone is going to get it right away.
Netflix Smash!
If I had to rate Saturday Morning All-Star Hits, I would call it “post-television.” Self-aware television, capable of playing with its codes and with the metanarrative, that can shift tones between different episodes, narrating a river story that knows it is self-contained, but also unique, a rare bird that has its value as a comedy series, but also as an artistic piece. And coming from a Netflix that doesn’t always take care of its products to this extent.
It is true that SMASH will never appear on the lists of the best on Netflix, overshadowed by other comedies like BoJack Horseman, Never Have I Ever, American Vandal, or Love, but perhaps it should make its way through. Because we already have many series that take the easy route, we have seen dozens of products that can only be original up to a point, and never fully exploit all their strangeness, their reason for being, their most primitive DNA. This one does achieve that: it leaves nothing unsaid, tells everything it wants, no matter how crude, beastly, and strange it may be. And it is commendable that it does not aim to appeal to all audiences at any moment.
When was the last time you saw something that you really felt was special? Do you remember the feeling of watching a series and thinking “I’ve never seen anything like this”? Give the algorithm, the lists, and the recommendations that always go for the most basic, what a billion people have already pointed out, the middle finger: spend a weekend watching Saturday Morning All-Star Hits, and don’t be discouraged after its first two episodes. You’ll thank me later.
