Comedy Bang! Bang!: “Skylar Astin”
(Episode 4.16) “Skylar Astin Wears Blue Jeans and Weathered Brown Desert Boots”

Comedy Bang! Bang! episodes can be remembered almost like Friends titles. There’s “The One Where They Go Back in Time,” or “The One That Ends With the Prom,” or “The One Where Lil Jon Is Surprisingly Great.” But after “Skylar Astin Wears Blue Jeans and Weathered Brown Desert Boots,” I couldn’t find the thing that made the episode memorable. “Skylar Astin” has a bunch of fun little skits, but it doesn’t feel like anything more.
“Skylar Astin” comes off last week’s Colin Hanks episode, a high-concept installment that broke down the usual outline of the show and tried some even crazier-than-usual elements. “Skylar Astin” returns back to the usual formula—which I find to actually be a good thing for the show—yet unfortunately absent of anything that’s especially funny.
I’ve often stated that Comedy Bang! Bang! doesn’t really need a strong hook to an episode, but “Skylar Astin” might be the exception to the rule. What starts off as a good idea—Scott must pass a big midterm or he’ll be kicked off the show—should be a great landscape for plenty of teen comedy tropes, but instead it turns into Scott and his tutor, the Network President’s daughter Isobel, trying to hide their budding romance.