Alec Berg builds comedies around small decisions that cause increasingly awkward problems. We rate his television work highly, though the careful plotting can become repetitive when a series runs for years.
Fi1m perspective
The founders in Silicon Valley (2014) keep promising to make the world a better place. Berg and his fellow writers let the claim sound foolish without adding a punchline. He is particularly good at giving foolishness a convincing procedure, so that a ridiculous problem receives the same attention as a sensible one. His insistence on research helps. The technical details are treated properly, and that makes the silliness funnier.
He joined Seinfeld (1989) for its final four seasons as a writer, and its intricate plotting remains a useful starting point for understanding his work. Small decisions grow into problems that the characters can no longer manage. He co-wrote and co-directed EuroTrip (2004), but we would introduce him through his television work. On Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000), he contributed stories and directed episodes, working within an outline-led approach to comedy. The repeated disputes can wear us down, but the patience with which the supporting cast lets an argument develop is worth noticing.
As co-showrunner with Mike Judge on Silicon Valley, Berg had room to develop longer stories while keeping individual episodes satisfying. Thomas Middleditch makes Richard Hendricks's discomfort worth following even when the plot starts to look familiar. Yet the programme repeatedly returns to the same plot, and later seasons suffer for it. The jokes remain sharp enough for us to recommend it, even when the season's broad shape has become predictable.
With Barry (2018), co-created with Bill Hader, Berg helped make a comedy willing to become much darker than its opening premise. We were unsettled by Hader's barely moving face, because the hitman who enters an acting class seems unable to perform the terrible things he can do. Hader deserves much of the credit, but Berg's practice of allowing improvisation within a firm structure also matters: the actors have room to make these people difficult. Henry Winkler's Gene Cousineau sells his method to students who cannot afford it, and the performance works without making him particularly likeable. Start with Barry, but expect fewer laughs as it goes on.
Biography
Alec Berg is an American screenwriter, producer and director. He wrote for the final four seasons of the sitcom Seinfeld (1989) and has directed episodes and contributed stories to Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000).
Berg graduated from Harvard University, where he wrote for The Harvard Lampoon. He co-created the series Barry (2018) with Bill Hader and has served as executive producer and writer on Silicon Valley (2014). His film credits include co-writing EuroTrip (2004), The Dictator (2012) and The Cat in the Hat (2003).
