Kroll Show (2013–2015) User Reviews (25)

7/10 because 70% of the skits are worth watching

[pmakauloski2312 · 7/10 · 30 June 2015]

It's hard to give a good review for this show because you probably have to like Nick Kroll as an actor to enjoy this show. He does a ton of different characters on this show, some of the best ones are Liz from a PR Firm, Gil the prank show host, Jeff the creepy Ref, and Gigolo House. Some episodes of this show are better than others, i thought the first season was the best one and then good episodes were more rare in season 2 and 3. The guests on this show were a big reason this show was a success. I thought Jenny Slate was excellent as Liz, the other Liz in the PR Firm. Jason Mantzoukas is one of my favorite new actors, i think he is funny in every character he plays. Other notable guests were John Mulaney and Chelsea Peretti.

7/10 I think you just have to watch this to see if you would like it, it won't appeal to everyone. Decent show in my opinion.

Nick Kroll's remind me of Georgia O'Keefe paintings

[diegy-fuentes · 6/10 · 22 June 2023]

This is one of the better skit shows post Chappelle Show.

Nick Kroll is surprisingly funny and yes it took the success of his wildly popular Netflix show Big Mouth for me to even further investigate his comedic in devours, I'm glad I stubbled across this little hidden gem.

The main difference between this and other skit comedy shows is instead of keeping it vague and open to a broader promise of diversity because he makes more 'characters' every other skit revolves around one of the same characters.

Don't get me wrong some characters are hilarious (personally a big fan of Liz and Armound) but other characters can be "eh" or not your cup of tee and I guess that's where the shows main flaw is. Once you're not a fan of a particular skit you're just going to ride it out because the same character is coming back the next episode.

Was good for some big laughs just got a little played out ps what was the deal with these awkward in-between moments interviewing guests and writers? That didn't work for me.

All in all I give it 6.4 knee slaps to of 10.

Brilliant & Hilarious

[Amgomolare · 28 February 2013]

Think the other reviewers missed the point on this show (especially the guy that said 'It's awful!' then proceeded to spend a paragraph talking about Futurama) and would hate to see people miss this gem on the basis the three negative reviews already here. That said, some episodes and/sketches are stronger than others are but that makes the show no different from any other program of its type (even Monty Python did sketches that weren't really funny {their words, not mine}). Thing is, most of the sketches on Kroll are parodies of reality programs or outrageous personalities so, by nature, they're going to be kinda irritating but unfunny? Not to me. Check out 'Rich Dicks', 'Liz & Liz', 'Ghost Bouncers', 'Oh Hello' or any of the 'Armond about the House' sketches and decide for yourself if this isn't one of the most hilarious, well-done sketch programs put out in years. The chameleonesque skills of Kroll and Cast in portraying their array of characters are truly awe inspiring in their nuance and ability to mix familiarity with caricature (who hasn't met a Liz B or Bobby Bottlefiller?). Even the intro sequence and theme music stand out for being impactful, evocative and stylish. Along with Key & Peele, I feel this is one of the best written, designed and executed comedies currently being made but the only way to know is to check it out and see for yourself. 9/10

Terrific, Funny, Good Stuff!

[jimel98 · 10/10 · 27 March 2014]

Of course not everything fires as funny as we'd like, nothing does, but in all honesty, it's still one of the best shows out there right now. Nick Kroll's take on reality TV is so good, I will NEVER watch reality TV as long as I can help it. I've seen an episode of that stuff here and there and rely heavily on 'The Soup' to know what's going on in the world of Garbage TV to ever need to sit through it for real. Kroll Show has nailed the insipid trash that many seem to flock to and made it funny.

OK, I know much of the real reality TV is funny in it's attempt to be good, but I can't sit through it. Nick Kroll and his insane little ensemble skewer it as well as some of the other 'stuff' on TV and does it masterfully yet not 'in your face'. They don't try too hard and that's one of the reasons it's so damn funny. Some comedy tries to be funny to the point that it just becomes stupid. Nick doesn't. It's low key but very believable. I rarely give anyone a 10 because I can always find some flaw but in an effort to balance a few of the negative reviews, I'm going all out. This show deserves it.

Surreality TV

[pond-robertl · 9/10 · 8 March 2014]

I honestly don't get how so many people can find this show so unappealing.

It's a fantastic satire of modern celebrity and reality TV that sadly no one on the internet gets outside of a few niches. It's a parody of the downfall of society.

It's something more people should get, but I guess Kroll coming from a show about fantasy football will give you an audience more predisposed to ESPN and firmly against Bravo therefore unlikely to get a lot of the humor. It's a satire and at this point in the second season it has blossomed into one of Comedy Central's best shows.

TOP 10 Comedy Shows of all Times!! Brilliant Writing and Acting!

[bekkaliloubna · 10/10 · 10 August 2014]

This show is a masterpiece! I am amazed at the originality of the writing and the great performances by Nick Kroll, Jon Daly and the rest of the cast. I recommend this show to anyone that appreciates satirical parodies of reality shows and TV dramas.

My embarrassing guilty pleasure is watching reality TV or what my husband like to call "trash"as a mean to relax, and the Kroll Show makes me feel that I am not alone in seeing the absurdity of its "reality" but still watch anyways because it makes me feel intellectually superior. The show makes satire accessible to all audiences because it brings a funny twist to characters we are all familiar with, without over amplifying or going into extremes to prove a point.

It is brilliant, entertaining and very very VERY FUNNY!

Thank you Comedy Central for giving this show a second season, which turned out to exceed our expectations!

**My favorite characters are "Bobby Bottleservice", "Dr.Armand", "C-zar" and "Liz"

The pits

[abbeyshumerdonner · 1/10 · 10 December 2013]

It's as if someone is giving this talent free kid a show, and he gets to play pretend. But, no one is laughing but him and his frat boy buddies. But these are the most insufferable rich fratboys that are also rich as hell and think it's so funny how stupid the poor are. The liz character is the only one of any value and when he takes on less obvious targets you can stand him. On the one stand up show I saw him in, he was creepy and full of woman hate. So, I can't urge him to just stick to that. I would urge him to return to Georgetown and learn ethics or something. This show sucks and the fact that it was renewed is a very sad statement about society. Sadder than most can guess if they don't know that Nick Kroll's father is the only reason this sod got a show in the first place.

Kroll is the Jewish Dave Chappelle

[jackwwaldman · 10/10 · 26 March 2014]

I would like to preface this by saying Nick Kroll gets me.

Kroll Show is a skit show that mainly lampoons the horrible reality that is current, unscripted, television. Each sketch flows naturally into the next and the characters that grace my TV every Tuesday night, are simultaneously ridiculous and all too true to life. The way current reality TV is heading some of these fake shows aren't too far away anyways. This is the one show that I force my friends to watch with me and they're all better for it.

I have seen a ton of stand up comedy, and for whatever reason, I've had the pleasure of seeing Kroll around 15 times and every single time he had the whole theater rolling in the isles. Easily one of my top 5 live performers, and as if God was reading my diary, Comedy Central game him a show .

What I really want to use this platform to say that we all owe the executives at Comedy Central a big hug for green lighting this triumph of comedy.

no laughs to be found despite his non stop shameless self promotion

[misschiff501 · 1/10 · 26 February 2014]

It has come to my attention that the only reason this show has been foisted on us is due to Nick Kroll's money and influence. The show is devoid of humor or skill or talent. It's insanely unfunny. It's an embarrassing testament to how a cunning and unsightly member of the one percent- Nick Kroll was able to not only buy a show, but to buy hype and press. He wants his evil father to be proud of his machinations, and so this kind of putrid nonsense has to pass for comedy nowadays.

And, poor humans have to endure his billboards and non stop shameless self promotions. It's amazing to behold how far this loser will go to come across as a funny man, when he has no sense of humor at all. Nick Kroll wants to make it and he will do anything to make sure he doesn't look like a failure to his ruthless father. His casting of Stephanie Allyne would be hilarious if it was not a means to further his lucrative cancer scam with twisted lesbian joker, Tig Notaro.

Kroll doesn't mind faking success since he has no clue as to how to elicit laughter in the viewer. A dumb and entitled rich boy who is lording over the comedy world with his tricks and schemes. He even mocks the poor and calls some unfunny character called, "C-Zar" a "toilet baby." Kroll seems to find the underclass and the idea of a baby being born in a toilet - hysterically funny. He grew up in mansions and his father is driven to work, daily, in a limousine.

Problem is only he is laughing. Kroll has even cultivated some nerd named Peter Holmes and set him up with a talk show.

This way he and his friends can look all famous and successful when it's all a pretense. Nick Kroll and this show are nauseating and Comedy Central should be ashamed of themselves for pushing this excrement-like production on the unwitting public.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts

[Resumption-of-Disbelief · 27 February 2013]

I really like this show. But I'm not shocked that many people dislike it. The sketches don't all stand up well by themselves, lacking the clearly-defined, singular premise that is the hallmark of traditional sketch comedy (e.g., SNL, Mad TV, Chappelle Show, Whitest Kids U Know), where a humorous situation is set up and then played out to further and further extremes. There is not much here aimed towards water-cooler recaps. Nor is the satire offbeat enough for the show to achieve that surreal, absurdist quality that you get from Mr. Show, Portlandia, Comedy Bang Bang, or even Monty Python. Kroll does not venture too far from reality show parodies. But where Kroll Show may shrug off mainstream expectations as sketch comedy, it nails its target as social commentary: a kind of stream-of-consciousness symphonic poem aware only of the circular, ephemeral landscape of trashy television and internet memes that exists in front of its own eyes. At its best, the show is to Bravo and E! what The Onion is to bad journalism, the joke not so much on the idiots that it caricatures but rather on all of us for letting them happen. If you don't feel a little ashamed of yourself by how recognizable all of this is then yes, you are probably missing the point.

Comedic genius!

[wademsd · 10/10 · 24 December 2019]

One of the best sketch comedies I've seen. Kroll kills it!

Full Show Is Amazing

[alexdlugosz · 10/10 · 10 December 2020]

An epic saga of unmatched scope, this show had me busting it gut from beginning to end

I bought the full DVD set. That's how much I love this.

[angelabox · 10/10 · 15 October 2022]

Nick Kroll is a genius and for those of you just learning about him because of his Netflix special, he's been around forever and is HYSTERICAL .

Kroll Show is one of the best sketch shows of all time.

Publizity, Spotted Ox Hostel, Wheels Ontario (best Degrassi parody ever), Nash Rickey, Young Billy Joel, Rich Dicks, Ghost Bouncers, Oh Hello, Bobby Bottleservice, Gigilo House, Farley.... GOLD.

I also love how they pulled a bunch of the cast from Burning Love (which has a bunch of people from The State) -- also amazing. And then Larry David hired a bunch of Kroll cast members for Curb Your Enthusiasm. Even Leon (Smoove D) makes an appearance.

Buy this DVD set. You're welcome.

Stinks to high heaven

[sedektirdoff777 · 1/10 · 20 December 2013]

This show got so much press and there was so many twitter campaigns. I realized at some point that this was due to Nick Kroll's impressive wealth and connections and not due to talent. That said, just because Nick Kroll is a trust fund kid, worth billions, doesn't mean he can't have any talent. And, he might have some on the League. I haven't seen it. But, when it comes to this production and the stand up I've seen this youngish man is a DUD. Add a really rotten character to the glaring absence of talent and I don't like this Nick Kroll much ;>(

The fact that he is a billionaire's son who has access to manufactured press is bad enough, but then you notice that all his characters are broad takes on the riff raff. Only the Publizity sketch takes on less obvious targets, but still- hardly worthy or effective satire.

There is something particularly onerous about the ultimate one percenter thinking the poor or the stupid is so poke-worthy. Niok Kroll is the Mitt Romney of comedy, in other words.

We get it. Ed Hardy is lame. Reality TV is a miserable reality. Italians are sometimes mooks. This show reeks of rich kids(Kroll has taken along his Georgetown Buddies John Mulaney and Mike Birbigli for the free ride) thinking that their snotty observations are the bees knees.

Normally, they'd have to have good reviews and decent ratings to keep playing dress up so publicly, but when you have the kind of pull that Nick Kroll does.... we have to put up with this drivel. If you want to see funny sketch from a truly talented guy -- see Peter Serinofowitz.

It's sad how many talented comedians have not advanced in their career due to Nick Kroll's voracious need to impress his father. Again, if Kroll was talented all his machinations would be less offensive since they'd result in a viable product.

Instead, we are stuck with an untalented fellow who is soiling comedy for so many with his endless schemes and stunts. He learned a lot from his father's businesses and too little about comedy or integrity.

http://henypire.blogspot.com/2014/01/review-of-kroll-show.html

Yes!

[mingie · 10/10 · 16 October 2020]

Great sketch show! So sad it ended. So many hilarious bits. Love Publizity!

Pretty Bad...Standup Better

[guian1863 · 1/10 · 27 October 2013]

Its a tired re-hash of other shows. Not too many funny bits, which is sad. He's a good stand-up, and CC should allow him to do what he wants instead of just giving us this trash. I mean come on, anyone who does a good job on stand-up wise should be able to come up with something equally as good for a series. I blame Cc for this mess. They are constantly constraining the comedians with stupid boxes. All they want is another Chappell show or the next Tosh. Just like their failed roasts, which could learn a bit from the old Dean Martin roasts. Seems they are sticking a good comic with bad writers. Really, really sad for this. Then they will cancel the show, and blame the star.

Brilliant Caricatures

[goerge12344 · 25 April 2013]

This show excels at highlighting the peculiar and hilarious aspects of real people and reality TV. Nick Kroll's attention to detail and direction are impeccable, illustrated by the cast's portrayal of idiosyncrasies that not all may be quick enough to notice, but are instant classics once absorbed. Some examples of this are Pony Tales, Ghost Bouncers, PubLIZity, and Wheels Ontario, all of which could be made into their own successful TV shows.

Acute specificity being a mainstay of the show's humor, some of its best moments may verge on cryptic for those less culturally aware or perceptive, but there are still many components with mass appeal. Writing, acting, direction, production, editing—all fantastic. This show is a museum.

Hilarious send up of reality TV

[someotherclown · 9/10 · 10 September 2023]

I had an awful week and this show was just what I needed -- totally goofy and absurd. Nick Kroll is amazing in huge variety of characters, John Daly is hysterical, and so are so many of the recurring and guest characters. Really clever how all the fake reality shows interconnect. Whoever does Nick Kroll's wigs should get an award. Dr. Armond and his whole subplot are hysterical, and Bobby Bottleservice's malapropisms ("we're investigating paralegal activity") and excessive use of "as well as" made me LOL. If you've seen any reality TV, you'll appreciate the cleverness of this show. Only thing I could do without is "Oh Hello" -- that got tedious for me. But overall love the show and sorry there are only 3 seasons.

WHERE is the humor???

[Mustang92 · 1/10 · 14 January 2014]

For a comedy show, this is possibly the most unfunny show I have ever seen. And possibly the most unfunny show Comedy Central has ever had on. I watched one episode this evening and didn't laugh ONE time. I didn't even chuckle. WTF?

Is it Kroll himself that doesn't know how to write good material? Or is it the writers? (Assuming the show has multiple writers.) I simply don't get how this can be on the air. And, I simply don't get how Comedy Central could be putting this on the air. Particularly when CC has shows like "Key & Peele" (generally an excellent show, although a few episodes have been weak) or "Tosh.0" (hilarious show).

How can any Comedy Central executive look at the Kroll show, and even think it comes close to being in the same league as "Key & Peele," "Tosh.0," "South Park," etc.? Either kill the show, or hire some good writers.

Epic Fail

[desranleaumarief · 1/10 · 29 January 2015]

I am watching this show right now. I have seen this show once before. It is the same now as it was then - really quite terrible! How did this get made?

I have no idea who Nick Kroll is, and I have no idea why anyone would give him a show. Based on everything I've seen from him on this show I can tell you that it is quite apparent that he has no comedy talent whatsoever.

Not only is the show completely unfunny, with characters that are painfully unfunny, it's not even competent on a technical level. I can't believe this is even on TV.

A sketch comedy show that simply can't hold it's own.

[thecinnamonkid85 · 6 February 2013]

My expectations for "Kroll Show" was not too high to begin with, as Comedy Central tries many sketch comedy shows that simply just don't make it. The great sketch comedy shows always leave you coming away from the show with that awesome sketch you talk about for a week until you see the next. Chappelle's Show, Key and Peele, and Who's Line is it Anyway, are perfect examples of classic sketch comedies. Kroll Show does not have the lasting factor these shows did, as a couple cheap laughs from the same guy and mostly unknown supporting characters does not make the show watchable on a weekly basis. While the show has it's moments of laughs, most of the time it fails to leave a lasting impression on it's viewers. A majority of the viewers will simply be watching due to the fact it is on after Workaholics, but take away that time slot and this show will have ratings more realistic to the show's quality.

4/10

Nick Kroll might be good at business but he is terrible at comedy

[caldavis80 · 1/10 · 7 April 2014]

Nick Kroll's production company is named "Good at Bizness." and judging from his relentless viral campaigns, he might be good at business. But, judging by his self named show, he is not good at comedy. He is terrible at sketch, in particular. He is not talented with character work, and it seems that he thinks that his lame private jokes will translate to laughs. Time after time, he is wrong. He has only taken on easy targets and that is not good satire. Making fun of reality TV? How stale can you get? His characterizations of "toilet baby" C-Zar is unfortunate. Nick Kroll seems to loathe white trash as he lives in Palaces. It's tacky.

I have heard his stand up is terrible but I only saw one clip on youtube(AWFUL)so it's possible he has better material.

The fact that is father is one of the most powerful billionaires in modern history, is irrelevant to this review, but it is interesting how that is factoring into the incessant and annoying promotion that accompanies his every youtube. His ability to snag top stars hasn't worked to improve his ratings at all. And, his repeated lies- " Katy Perry Tweeted me and said she wanted to be on the show," can come back to bite him.

His funding of Earwolf Podcast network and his propping up Peter Holmes(TBS) is fascinating to watch.

Nick Kroll: Good at business but terrible at comedy. He should take a step back and realize that you can't buy the funny, and that's OK. It's not as if he can't drown his tears with billions of dollars.

How did this guy get a show

[smithalbert79 · 1/10 · 26 June 2014]

I have been bombarded with adverts for this show for years. I finally gave it and gave it a go. I couldn't stop watching. But I kept stuck to the Telly, from morbid fascination rather than due to its humour. In fact, it was the least funny program I have ever seen.

I would later learn that his father is very prominent businessman in Toronto and thus the bombardment of adverts.

gave me a chuckle. So bad it's nearly good. If you like watching an ugly looking bloke dress like a lass as he makes incomprehensible sketches, than this show is for you.

If not,I'd stick to anything else, I suppose.

So bad. Really.

[rumbastingray · 1/10 · 3 September 2013]

I watched Nick Kroll in his stand up shows before and it's 100 times better than this show. This show is nonsense and really not funny at all. His best character is probably Liz. Quality of the show is good in terms of the production value, it's not too bad. But the concept / scripts / skits is really bad. This is a comedy show right? Not. Self indulgent skits. Like Nick Kroll dreams about it then he brings it to life. Airy fairy makes no sense. Some people may like it, I don't know but 3 of my friends have watched it and we all do not appreciate this kind of comedy. Maybe it's a girl thing (all 3 of us are girls) but I really hope Nick Kroll sticks to stand up comedy. He does 100 times better as a stand up comedian.

This Is Weird

[shanna-nicole82 · 2/10 · 19 October 2020]

This is not funny and painful to watch. I am currently watching this one episode and so lost as to what I am actually watching. Twenty-one minutes I can never get back.