Series Review: The Crazy Ones

The CBS comedy starring the late Robin Williams aired in 2013 and 2014

I watched every episode of this series, which was recommended to me by a director whose opinion I value, following the death of Robin Williams. In retrospect, the CBS comedy is better appreciated this way. Williams was an intelligent and extremely talented actor as well as being the manic, wild and neurotic comedian everyone knows. The Crazy Ones is an entertaining ensemble series. It plays like an elegy—a twinkling last farewell.

The key to its success is actress Sarah Michelle Gellar, a fine performer whose career began in earnest playing one of those teenage vampires when that unfortunate trend started. Gellar plays the straight part in a cast of fast-talking, deadpan comic characters. She leads young players of a Chicago advertising agency. With a cheerful opening pop song and credits interspersed with pictures of Trump Tower on the Chicago River downtown, the constant pressure of creating ads starts every episode.