Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Bupkis’ On Peacock, Where Pete Davidson Plays Himself In A Slightly Heightened Version Of His Life

Shows that take us inside a comedian’s life, even if it’s a fictional, heightened version of that person’s life, work because the star of the show has a life that we’re interested in watching. They tend to be an open book in some form, and they seem to thrive when diving in and skewering their public image. A new series starring former SNL star Pete Davidson does just that, while boasting a stellar cast and roster of guest stars.

BUPKIS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Closeups of clothes, some Star Wars stuff, and a couple of buds sitting on a table.

The Gist: Pete Davidson (himself) is looking himself up on Google while wearing his VR goggles. He sees all of the bad stories about him, including the one that says he has “butthole eyes.” Then he indulges in a little VR porn.

He recently moved back in with his mom Amy (Edie Falco) in the Staten Island house where he grew up, smarting from yet another breakup with a high-profile celebrity. She comes down with his clean laundry, right as he’s finishing himself off. Amy, despite getting doused, seems unfazed.

Pete is so mortified he has to leave; he gets some takeout with his ex-girlfriend Nikki (Chase Sui Wonders, Davidson’s real-life girlfriend), who tells him that he runs away from his loved ones when things get too intense. That reminds him that he needs to return his grandfather’s calls.

When he meets with his grandfather, Joe Larocca (Joe Pesci), who, while drinking a root beer float, coughs up blood and then just happens to throw out the fact that he’s dying. Right then, a fan of Pete’s asks Joe to take a pic, and Joe curses the guy out and dunks his phone in the float.

Joe tells Pete that he really wants them to spend more time together, to have a fun guy’s night out. Taking that cue, Pete takes Nikki’s suggestion that he should get his grandpa a classy prostitute. So he has his assistant Evan (Philip Ettinger) set up the appointment; when he can’t tell sex worker Donna (Lynne Koplitz) what he’s going to need, Pete gets on the phone, and Donna immediately recognizes her.

Pete decides to make this night an expensive blowout, renting a suite at the Plaza, but he’s surprised when Joe invites his buddy Roy (Brad Garrett) to come along. He’s even more surprised when the night takes a turn, and he finds himself assisting Roy in a way he never imagined at the beginning of the night.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Bupkis is certainly along the lines of other “comedian plays a heightened version of himself” shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm, Louie and Maron.

Our Take: If there’s anyone who is ripe to play himself in a (slightly) heightened version of his life, it’s Pete Davidson. And in Bupkis, he does a good job at skewering the tabloid image that has been built up over the last nine years.

What’s interesting to us is that Davidson isn’t even the funniest, or the most interesting, part of the show. Davidson, along with Judah Miller and Dave Sirus, have leaned into the idea that we know a lot about Davidson’s crazy life already, and we immediately get to see more of the people around him and some of his inner turmoil.

In the second episode, for instance, we immediately dive into his past, seeing him at the wedding of his Uncle Tommy (Bobby Cannavale) only weeks after his firefighter father Scott (Joshua Bitton) died during the 9/11 attacks. We switch back and forth from the wedding, where Amy has to navigate lots of “sorry for your loss” wishes while not knowing how she’ll raise Pete and his sister alone, to the present, where Uncle Tommy is suffering through a definitive midlife crisis.

It’s a surprisingly emotional episode so early in the show’s run, before the players in this version of Davidson’s life are really established. But it works, because we know about Pete’s history. It also works because Falco and Pesci are such pros. Falco is still feeling her way through her role as Pete’s enabling mother Amy, but she still has moments where she takes the way Amy reacts to her son to a different, more subtle level. Pesci, whom we haven’t seen since The Irishman in 2019, is by turns fiery and subtle, spouting f-bombs while playing something closer to his actual, less bombastic self than we’ve seen in his most famous roles.

The show is crammed full of guest stars, who each are given a chance to have a funny moment, even if it’s an absurd one. The wedding flashback alone has Cannavale, Jane Curtin and Steve Buscemi; a third episode, where Pete tries to find an online troll boasts Jon Stewart, Charlie Day and (no joke) Al Gore. While we love seeing all of these people come together to make Davidson’s show as funny as possible, sometimes we wish that Davidson and his co-creators would have let things breathe a bit, and introduce us to more people in Pete’s life, before throwing one A-lister after another at viewers.

Sex and Skin: When you open your series with a scene where you accidentally come on your mom, you’re pretty much setting the tone in the sex and skin category.

Parting Shot: As Pete and Joe are having leftover lasagna, then Amy comes down to warm it up. As Pete and Joe dance around what happened that night, Amy presses him to come clean. And Joe wants to know why Amy winked at Pete. Pete reveals all, reluctantly and angrily.

Sleeper Star: We love seeing Brad Garrett in everything, including his recent Jimmy John’s commercials. But we’ll never forget the sight of him being pushed by Davidson into Koplitz’s character when his hip gives out during sex.

Most Pilot-y Line: When Nikki suggests Pete get his grandpa a prostitute, she says, “A talented one, who makes you believe that she’s in love with you.”

Our Call: STREAM IT. Bupkis has some flaws, and Davidson at times suffers from the generosity he and his co-creators have given to the rest of the cast and guest stars. But it’s still a funny show that takes some surprising early emotional turns that still feel earned.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.