Garfunkel and Oates play themselves, i.e. two 30-something comedic musicians who write and perform parody songs that are not as clever as the Tom Lehrer songs of the 1970's, but are a homage. The shows are about their real life experiences as a female duo sort of like "Laverne and Shirley".While the first two episodes are kind of bawdy, the third episode ("speechless") about not talking on dates, and watching sports, is hysterically funny and very creative. I started watching, hoping for something like Tom Lehrer, but what can you expect when these two women are doing IT ALL, producing the show, writing the shows, writing the songs, performing them, and acting in the leading parts? I am amazed.I am pretty certain there has NEVER been a show like this on TV, about a comedic song group. The successful big-budget musical shows of the 60's (Monkees, Partridge family) had only very serious songs, and hoardes of backup staff to make them successful. The monkees sang their own songs but I think that David Cassidy had backing vocalists for the Partridge Family recordings. While a fraction of the songs from those shows were from singer-songwriters, this show is from singer- songwriter-show-writers-producers, which is frankly, amazing.

Doubtful.For some reason this show is always on IFC when I'm up in the middle of the night for any variety of reasons (but mostly urinary issues).Anyway, if I can't get back to sleep, it's time to start flipping channels, and these two quirky gals are enough to make me stop the churn.I first saw them on an episode of "The Soup" and was curious enough to find out more about them. Turns out they've been "LA musical comedy stars" for at least five years, and IFC gave them a shot at a show. The show is interesting and ironic, the jokes come pretty fast, the ukulele certainly is today's go-to instrument for hipster comedy, BUT THE LAUGHS JUST AREN'T THERE for me.Your mileage may vary, as I'm just a boring, early-onset AARP white guy and not an early 30-something single navigating this world we call 2014, so check them out if you care to.

If you're a fan of The Big Bang Theory, then you probably heard of Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci, who have played guest roles on the show. Micucci played Raj's girlfriend Lucy in a number of episodes.But if you haven't heard of Garfunkel and Oates, the group that consists of Lindhome and Micucci, then the IFC show is your introduction to the funny female folk duo.I have seen every episode so far, and to me their songs are funny and sometime dirty. I also like the avant-garde style videos that appear in each episode. It adds a lot to the comedy.Even though IFC ordered only eight episodes, it's a show that deserves to be back for a longer run next season. It's a show that would also work on HBO since there are no restrictions on language. Give the show a chance, you'll see two outstanding and funny female comedy singers.

I'm writing mine, I'm surprised there are only two IMDb reviews of Garfunkel and Oates, and both those reviews are by people who either didn't pay much attention to the single episode they watched or they think "to critique" a show means "to criticize" it. It certainly is OK to criticize a show, if you watched it with an open mind, and actually watched more than one episode. For one thing, how could anybody have actually watched more than one episode and think, "most of the jokes revolve around them being 'super bad at sex.'" Doesn't matter what a joke is about. What matters is it being funny. Riki and Kate are funny. Even in the pilot episode, there was a lot more going on than a single subject joke. Garfunkel and Oates is humorous fictionalized personal anecdotes and social satire. Those reviewers who didn't understand the pilot episode wouldn't understand any of the others, so it's a good thing for them they've stopped watching. Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci are not yet on the level of Marc Maron, Louis CK, or Amy Schumer, but they're getting there. Instead of stand-up before, after, or during their half hour skits, Riki and Kate use song parodies. The songs are short and humorous and always have something to do with the theme of the episode. "As for the ukulele." OK, where are all those other ukuleles I've read complaints about? I watch a lot of TV and I've never seen any recurring character playing a ukulele except Kate Micucci as Shelley in Raising Hope. Actually, I've never seen many characters in recurring roles play any type of musical instrument. Garfunkel and Oates is a lot better than the nitpicking contrarians will have you believe. Give it a chance. Entertaining, insightful, and funny. You might even learn to appreciate the ukulele, or maybe even get one of your own. You might not like Garfunkel and Oates, but those negative reviewers are grossly misrepresenting that show.