I just re-watched all of the episodes of Play It Again, Dick with my husband, who hadn’t seen them yet, and it really struck me how hard and often we laughed out loud at this silly little web series. The audience is crazy specific: not just fans of Veronica Mars but super-fans, who are aware of at least some of the back story of the production and cast and can get all of the inside jokes. But for that audience, this feels like the sweetest treat.
The latest ep delivers two major punchlines: when an actor plays against character type and when he fits right into our pre-conceived notions. Playing against type is Francis Capra (Weevil), who shows up at Ryan’s house in a black turtleneck, beanie and goatee, speaking loftily about “the craft” and reminiscing with fondness about the time he played Henry V. (A cursory Google search does not support this claim.) And playing right into his type is Ken Marino, draped across Ryan’s couch and with detached amusement picking apart Ryan’s half-assed ideas about how this pilot is going to work. Ryan’s hoping Marino, creative genius behind such comedy juggernauts as Childrens Hospital and Burning Love (both of which started as web series and are hilarious and brilliant, if you haven’t seen them) could polish up Ryan’s no-script in Final Draft, but Marino’s not super interested in this “fucktarded” endeavor.
We also meet Gaston, Ryan’s deeply disdainful choreographer who really enjoyed Marino’s performance on Whitney. Marino: “Don’t patronize me.” Gaston is played by Robert Buckley, who stars on Veronica Mars and Play It Again, Dick showrunner Rob Thomas’ upcoming CW show iZombie.
A reminder of our drinking game rules:
The Official FYA Play It Again, Dick Drinking Game
Drink once every time:
Dick dances.
Dick does a backflip.
Dick or Logan is shirtless.
The name “Dick” is used in a way that could also mean penis.
Drink twice every time:
Someone says “Veronica Mars.”
10 drinks this episode, 9 of which, by the way, occur in the credits each week.
And this week’s most meta moment:
Capra’s still railing against Thomas’ neglect of the craft, bemoaning the way he treated Weevil as nothing more than a common criminal (well…) and Dick as nothing more than a “knuckle-dragging meatball.”
Francis: “You know, if they woulda made me climb in a dumpster and track down a plastic Easter egg that’s been shoved up some frat boy’s colon, I would have walked off the set! Called my agent!” Ryan: “Technically, Veronica and Dick hired a bum to do it.” Francis: “And that’s better?!” Ryan, reasonably: “Yes?”
Join us again next Wednesday for the latest installment of this epic saga!
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