‘Bookie’ Season 2 Review — Continue To Bet On Lorre And Maniscalco

Sebastian Maniscalco’s Bookie returns for a second season and is better than ever. After receiving virtually no marketing and only screening the first episode for critics last year, Bookie is now getting the treatment it so richly deserves. This workplace comedy continues to allow Maniscalco to excel, tailoring the comedian’s natural, frenetic comedic charm and delivery no matter how uncomfortable the situations the characters continue to find themselves in.

Bookie is also a streaming series that features a story with genuine suspense and high stakes. (Remember what Martin Scorsese said about the audience watching the money at the end of Quiz Show?) This is surprising, considering the show is from Chuck Lorre (Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory) and Nick Bakay (The King of Queens), who are not exactly known for their ability to create drama in a format that requires thirty minutes or less. However, the series takes a bit to find its swing.

Maniscalco finds that sweet spot between stand-up and character work as the episodes progress. As a result, the only thing I keep telling myself—similar to after watching numerous live stand-up comedy shows from the man—is this: “Maniscalco is so damn funny.” He plays Danny, who runs an illegal sportsbook with his best friend and business partner, Ray (Harriet’s Omar J. Dorsey), a former pro football player who supported his grandmother and three small kids. Ray is also romantically involved with Danny’s sister, Lorraine (Vanessa Ferlito), who keeps the books.

Bookie season two features many supporting characters who bring plenty of laughs. That includes a subplot of Danny trying to win back his wife, Sandra (Andrea Anders), by allowing his mother-in-law (the hilarious Dale Dickey) to live in their home. Then there is Jorge Garcia’s Hector, caught in a business triangle with Ferlito’s Lorraine and the always reliable HBO player Rob Corddry, who plays Walt. Everyone on the show is trying to break out and grab their piece of the American dream, but they all may be playing each other to get it.

Bookie works when Sebastian Maniscalco is allowed to have his character Danny react to highly emotional situations. For instance, he is trying to get his mother-in-law out of his house when she accidentally sparks a neighbor’s murder-suicide. (It was a welcome sight to see City Slickers and Mr. Saturday Night’s David Paymer, now a well-respected television director, play the next-door philanderer.)

Maniscalco, Bakay, and Lorre push the envelope, almost daring the audience to embrace just how uncomfortable toeing the line between comedy and tragedy can be. That type of temperament is precisely what makes Bookie worth watching. Lorre and Bakay’s talent for character development this season has brought out the best in the cast, including Maniscalco, whose physical and expressive talent for comedy highlights the absurdity of modern culture for a man stuck in his old-school ways.

Bookie isn’t perfect, but that’s what happens when comedic creatives swing for the fences. The creators take real chances here. However, in a politically correct world, it’s refreshing to see a series that challenges current social norms by featuring characters who are unapologetic about shifts in modern culture. Bookie stands out among the crowd of recycled efforts in a world that continues to sensor itself.

You don’t have to agree with it, but you can sure laugh at (or with) it.

You can stream Bookie exclusively on Max on December 12th!