'Silicon Valley' & Our Brocomedy Exhaustion

HBO's upcoming sitcom Silicon Valley seems like the kind of show you should watch just to witness the talent of all the rising or established comedians they've got on their team. Kumail Nanjani? Martin Starr? T.J. Miller? Hell yeah. And Silicon Valley 's first trailer is on-point. I'll definitely be watching the pilot. But hmm. Why am I still underwhelmed?

It might be because one of the show's biggest draws — it's presenting itself as a geeky Entourage, set in Silicon Valley instead of Hollywood — feels like such trod territory. What's attracting me to this show — my love of shows like The League and my investment in shows portraying different aspects of "geek" culture — is also what's tempering my excitement.

The easiest diagnosis for this condition could probably be called bro-haustion. So many ensembles of raucously funny dudes living comfortably in their broclubs! I love me some Workaholics, too, but it's this over-saturation that makes shows like Broad City such a welcome and necessary break. Literally the only women I saw in this trailer were the strippers the men employed to celebrate their success. And the only line one of them spoke ("What do you guys do here?") was basically just an excuse for Starr's character to condescendingly explain that he's the reason she has the Internet. And it's all just exhausting.

This show was created by Mike Judge (Office Space, Beevis & Butthead) and includes in its cast a Freaks and Geeks castmember and a stand-up comic I love. I'm going to watch it. I'm also likely to wonder aloud where all the vaginas are.

Image: HBO