5 Reasons Why Dark Comedy ‘Get Shorty’ Is Defo Gonna Be Yr New Fave Series

If you haven’t already, you need to put Stan-exclusive series Get Shorty at the absolute top of your must-watch list.

Based on the 1990 novel of the same name and subsequent 1995 film, the series sees comedy legend Ray Romano‘s return to television alongside the hilariously charming Chris O’Dowd.

As the second season just dropped (the same day as the U.S., I might add) here are five reasons why you needa get on it ASAP.

1. Ray Romano got ballsy

We’re used to seeing him as the dopey family man in Everybody Loves Raymond but over a decade on from his highly successful nine-season series, the now 60-year-old has gotten edgier and funnier with age.

In the show, Romano plays Rick Moreweather a washed up film producer who hesitatingly hitches his wagon to the star of Miles Daly (O’Dowd) the muscle for a murderous crime ring in an attempt to boost his career.

Seeing Rick Moreweather get himself into weekly scenarios that Ray Barone would absolutely never find himself in (like agreeing to wear a wire for the Federal Government) makes the show all the more entertaining to watch, particularly for longtime Romano stans.

2. Chris O’Dowd as a criminal mastermind is pure comedy gold

Seeing sweet, dough-eyed Chris O’Dowd as cold-blooded criminal is nothing short of mesmerising. His goofy antics coupled with his mismatched camaraderie with Romano add to the complex genius of this show.

Throughout the series, O’Dowd juggles his life as a criminal mastermind with his attempt at a career in showbusiness with sometimes hilarious and often v. dark results.

In the second season we see Miles go up against criminal financiers and a shady Hollywood power-broker and believe me, you’re not gonna wanna miss this one.

3. The show’s rich origin story

Despite being adapted for the streaming service generation, the story borrows heavily from the original 1990 novel by the late Elmore Leonard, renowned for his crime fiction many of which were turned into hit films (Out of Sight, Swag, Hombre, Mr. Majestyk, and Rum Punchadapted as the movie Jackie Brown).

The story was first immortalised on screen via the ’95 flick of the same name where John Travolta portrayed Romano’s incarnation of the character named Chili Palmer only where Travolta’s character skated past the criminal world, Romano becomes entrenched in it which adds more drama and suspense to the comedic aspects of the storyline.

What we’re left with is a less watered down and more hardcore version of the original and frankly I wouldn’t have it any other way.

4. The second season is seriously upping the stakes

Daly continues to balance life his do-gooder family/film maker life with his skills as a career criminal alongside the now corrupted Moreweather who puts the entire operation at risk by agreeing to wear a wire for the Federal government.
Romano ~teased~ the upcoming dramatic chain of events in an interview with TV Insider.
“At the beginning of the series, the suspense revolved around keeping Rick from knowing who these people [really] were — like, ‘Why are they carrying guns again?’. Now we’ve ripped the cover off it. The cards are on the table, and the stakes are higher.”
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5. More TV legends have joined the cast

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmYjlhZnJXo/?hl=en&taken-by=felicityhuffman

If Romano and O’Dowd weren’t enough to get ya keen for the series, a bunch of other experienced TV stars have signed on to star alongside the dynamic duo including Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives, American Crime), Steven Weber (NCIS: New Orleans, 13 Reasons Why, iZombie), Andrew Leeds (Bones) and Amy Seimetz (Stranger Things, The Girlfriend Experience).

With plenty more surprises up their shady sleeves, season two is gonna be an absolute banger.

Catch season 1 and the freshly released season 2 of Get Shorty exclusively on Stan.

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