In the spring of 2018, Adult Swim premiered what is, in my mind, the best television show they’ve ever produced: Joe Pera Talks With You. The shortest description of the show is “quirky funny”. It rapidly but smoothly vacillates between heartfelt earnestness and comedic absurdity. The main character, Joe Pera, was a fictionalized version of the comedian of the same name, à la Larry David on Curb. This is not to say Joe was like Larry at all. He spoke softly and slow, extremely deliberate but contemplative. He acknowledged and understood his shortcomings but never veered into self-loathing. Joe’s world was populated by a plethora of funny but 3-dimensional characters, all of whom reflected the show’s quirkiness. Beyond describing its nuts and bolts, it’s difficult to put into words what made Joe Pera Talks With You so special. Its tone was unique among modern television shows. I’ll fully admit that the show being set in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula — gloriously revealed within the show’s first 30 seconds — caught me hook, line and sinker from the get-go. Joe Pera’s Marquette, Michigan was cartoony, but much less so than the fictional Pawnee, Indiana of Parks & Recreation or Community’s Greendale, Colorado. There was some exaggerated silliness in the setting, but nothing that seemed implausible.
The show mostly dealt with ostensibly mundane topics: Saturday morning diner breakfast, a less-than-perfect workplace, dancing at weddings, grocery shopping, new neighbors, exploring new hobbies, etc. But in exploring these topics the show created a lens through which it examined some of life’s most profound moments and more protracted challenges: lifelong romantic relationships, deaths of cherished family members, the responsibility and sometimes frightening prospect of deciding one’s own fate. Joe’s life on the show changed much like our own lives do in reality: punctuated equilibrium. Most days, things are pretty much the same. But then something huge happens, and your whole world is totally different. Gradually, that huge difference becomes the new sameness… and then the cycle repeats.
There wasn’t a single episode one could sincerely call a dud. They all shone brightly and often in very different ways. With that in mind, I’’m going to correlate this show’s opening volley of episodes (nine in total) to our beloved Detroit Lions. Which of the people who comprise this year’s iteration of the Detroit Lions match up with which episodes? And why? We’re doing this because both the show and the team are near and dear to my heart, and if I can put it out there that Joe Pera Talks With You is the Detroit Lions of shows, all the better. I highly, vehemently recommend you watch (or hopefully re-watch) the show, currently streaming on Max. For what it’s worth, the real-world Joe Pera is a Buffalo native and huge fan of the Bills. One of the best stand-up bits in his young career is an inverted take on the Bills’s “greatness” from before they became contenders a few years ago. He has intimate knowledge about decades of football heartbreak and even references it obliquely in a later episode of the show. Apologies to Joe Pera if he intended his show to be the Bills of 15-minute television programs, but I think he made the Lions of shows, an argument I’ll support through the following comparisons.
Offensive Tackle Taylor Decker is Episode 1, “Joe Pera Shows You Iron” — Our stalwart tackle who just notched his 100th start as a Lion has seen a lot of changes since the onset of his career in Detroit. In this episode, Joe mistakes some local teenage shenanigans (and a good-natured mix-up from the maelstrom of a family known as the Melskys) for a scenario in which he’s obligated to sell his house against his wishes. Joe contemplates what life would be like in Thunder Bay, Ontario with mixed feelings. I’m glad the Lions’s own iron-esque Decker hasn’t taken his services to another franchise with greener pastures, although I’d bet the thought crossed his mind a few times during our down years. Joe takes the arrival of the Melskys in stride and it all works out well, much like Decker and the new front office and coaching regimes that have rolled into Detroit. Decker and Joe both learn that taking it easy and seeing how things develop can lead to fulfilling, fun times. Dan Campbell gave Decker the game ball after the win against Carolina as a token of the appreciation the franchise feels for Decker’s steadfast loyalty. Joe gave Nicole Melsky a nugget of U.P. iron as a token of “welcome to your new home”. Rolling with the changes is better than rushing drastic decisions in reaction.
Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson is Episode 2, “Joe Pera Takes You to Breakfast” — Going out for a Saturday breakfast is a staple of Joe’s world, one that is filled with excitement at the potential for a great experience and appreciation for the variety of options from which he can choose. The sheer volume of breakfast possibilities (in the show and in real life) at a great diner is almost dizzying, but if you follow your instincts you’ll end up with what you need: good-looking, tasty sustenance. This is what Ben Johnson brings to the Lions. With the Lions’s bevy of talented weapons, a coordinator without the gumption of Johnson could be paralyzed into less-than-ideal decisions. But neither Ben Johnson nor Joe Pera let the possibility of perfection faze them out of making the right call. Sometimes Johnson even executes the play-call equivalent of Mike Melsky’s “Perfect Egg Bite”, e.g. the reverse-turned-flea-flicker he pulled in Week Five. There are many things to like about how Johnson calls plays. Similarly, there are many things to like about the conviction with which Joe tells the waitress his ultimate breakfast decision that morning: pancakes.
Quarterback Jared Goff is Episode 3, “Joe Pera Takes You on a Fall Drive” — This episode is particularly funny but with a sincere emotional crescendo at the end that touches on themes of mortality and time. Jared Goff was an L.A. cast-off. He was a throw-in to make the salaries match when we traded away the beloved Matthew Stafford. But as he’s been given the proper care provided by a stellar O-Line, Goff’s blossomed into a terrific quarterback whose throws are often sublime. Jared is proof that although nothing is permanent and things don’t always work the way you initially envisioned, beauty abounds if you know how to perceive it. Goff embodies the excitement that comes from positive change, like seeing someone that strikes your fancy for the very first time, as Joe does in this episode with his eventual girlfriend Sarah. Also, Goff’s charity empowers young kids in Detroit who hope to get into fashion design, and this episode features one of the best fashion-centric gags of the series with Joe, Nana, Gene and Lulu dressed as highly detailed versions of The Twins, Morpheus and Niobe from The Matrix: Reloaded.
Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson is Episode 4, “Joe Pera Shows You How to Dance” — Sometimes as human beings we get into ruts; habitual behaviors that, although not necessarily harmful, keep us from enjoying ourselves and our lives as much as we could. Oftentimes they’re informed by fear, as is the case with Joe and dancing at a co-worker’s wedding at which he feels like a perfunctory invitee. Through courageous fortitude, Joe shakes his old behavior, engages socially with Sarah and really wows the crowd in the middle of a high-stakes wedding dance circle. C.J. Gar-Jo, injured though he may be, came into town and totally changed the Lions’s forward-facing attitude. Dan Campbell had been trying and succeeding in moderation, but Gar-Jo was a strong catalyst that gave the Lions a well-informed bravado. Sometimes you have to risk abject failure in the pursuit of great victories, and a sincere confidence helps mitigate the risk of the former. To paraphrase a well-worn saying, “When going after Moby Dick, bring the tartar sauce.”
Linebacker Alex Anzalone is Episode 5, “Joe Pera Talks You Back to Sleep” — As I’ve alluded to in past Running Diaries, Anzalone is sneakily turning in a stellar start to the season from the middle linebacker spot. He’s not overly demonstrative, he doesn’t get a lot of ink or airspeak (locally or nationally), but he’s consistently solid and often terrific. That’s this episode. And like Anzalone does for the Lions, this episode epitomizes the tone that sets Joe Pera Talks With You apart from its contemporaries: quiet, understated, but so great that you can’t help but smile.
Defensive End Aidan Hutchinson is Episode 6, “Joe Pera Reads You the Church Announcements” — This episode focuses on the uniquely cool and fun feelings you get when you hear an instant-favorite song for the very first time. These feelings are similar to watching Aid Hutch play on the edge from his first game as a rookie. And he hasn’t missed a step yet. He’s incredibly talented, sizable and athletic, but you can tell from his vast array of moves and terrific condition that he works his tail off to complement his natural gifts. To say it succinctly, he’s a fan’s dream player; a star, just like a favorite song in a rotation. It’s hard to perceive a weakness in his game, and he has a knack for coming through huge at the times he’s needed most. Joe becomes obsessed with ‘Baba O’Reilly’ in this episode, and the exuberance you see him feel as he enjoys the song over and over again rings familiar for us Lions fans who see Hutch’s consistent excellence over and over again. Like most true fave-worthy songs, one imagines Hutch will only get more appreciable with age.
Tight End Sam LaPorta is Episode 7, “Joe Pera Lights Up the Night with You” — Joe is babysitting the youngest Melsky on New Year’s Eve and his focus eventually turns to the text messages he exchanges with Sarah that set up their first date. The anticipation of something beautiful and new combined with how one’s imagination fills when faced with a thing that has unlimited potential: that’s how Joe felt when Sarah agreed to go snowmobiling and that’s how Lions fans feel when we watch Sam LaPorta. It’s accurate to say he’s had the best start to a career any professional tight end ever has. What’s the limit? Can he be Detroit’s Tony Gonzo? Our Antonio Gates? Kelce? Gronk?! Few things are more enticing than positive anticipation. The questions that surround the quick-start success of Sam are similar to the pre-beginnings of a beautiful relationship: is this the one? How far can this go? How good can this get? You have to consciously remind yourself to keep your feet on the ground, but there’s no harm in basking in the warm glow of asking yourself, “Could this be the ultimate?”
Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn is Episode 8, “Joe Pera Talks With You About the Rat Wars of Alberta, Canada (1950-Present Day)” — Aaron Glenn’s start in Detroit wasn’t as rosy red as Sam LaPorta’s has been. The defense didn’t perform well at all, let alone up to Glenn’s intensely high standards. But he stood by his convictions and molded that side of the ball in his image. Our defense is dynamic, solid, strong and able to withstand some blows (like our plethora of injuries). This episode lays the groundwork to show us that Joe and Sarah’s relationship will have similar qualities. After their snowmobiling date, Joe’s slightly infatuated with Sarah. This leads him to write a musical about Alberta’s comprehensively effective rat population control, a topic by which she seemed surprisingly interested. Joe gets into a mania and a little too Joe-y in his detail-obsessed approach, and this causes him and Sarah to slightly butt heads. But because his obsession is informed by well-meaning passion, she eventually and exasperatingly brings herself to admit that she likes him. Like Glenn and our defense, the initial hiccups and speed bumps in Joe and Sarah’s relationship belie a truly strong bond that yields great things.
Offensive Tackle Penei Sewell is Episode 9, “Joe Pera Answers Your Questions About Cold Weather Sports” — In the final season of the first episode, Joe has to admit to himself that he doesn’t really understand women and/or how to go about a romantic relationship with someone for whom he has real affection. He eventually finds the courage to leave the proverbial Plato’s cave and asks to see Sarah’s ersatz cave (she’s a doomsday prepper with an underground bunker). What eventually turned out to be a key part of this Lions rebuild was having the courage to not do the “big splash” pick in the 2021 draft. Entering the 2021/22 league year, the Lions were — seemingly at the time — without a long-term answer at QB. There were also plenty of other enticing, flashier picks we could’ve made. Devonta Smith, Justin Fields, Mac Jones; the Lions of old would’ve absolutely picked one of these three, justifying it by harping on the positional need and then stubbornly building around that situation for years even if it started to appear fruitless. Sewell, perhaps the true MVP of the Lions so far this season, was a turn-around-the-franchise pick. He was a we-finally-understand-how-this-should-go pick. His play speaks for itself: he’s been and will continue to be a top-tier tackle for a long time, anchoring the O-Line that makes our whole offense an irresistible force. Like Joe being open and honest about himself to Sarah, the Lions finally “getting it” has yielded great results.
I thank you kindly for reading this Joe Pera/Lions comparison. One of the few things more enjoyable than a Joe Pera Talks With You re-watch is watching the Lions chalk up another W, which I’m hoping we’ll witness this Sunday as they travel to a tough contest in Tampa. I’m going to write about the Lions and which guys are which episodes from Seasons Two and Three in the future. Later this week, as always, we’ll feature some totally great previews and picks. Have yourselves a nice week. Auf Wiedersehen!
