A Woody Allen impersonator is drawn to Maya after she pens a favorable article about the filmmaker; Jack loses his sight for a day.A Woody Allen impersonator is drawn to Maya after she pens a favorable article about the filmmaker; Jack loses his sight for a day.A Woody Allen impersonator is drawn to Maya after she pens a favorable article about the filmmaker; Jack loses his sight for a day.
Photos
Vic Stagliano
- Bottled Water Guy
- (as Victor Stagliano)
Woody Allen
- Self
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
Steven Levitan
- Man at Elevator
- (uncredited)
Marsh McCall
- Man at Elevator
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaEd Crasnick played Woody Allen in two different sitcoms, Hot In Cleveland and Just Shoot Me. Both sitcoms also star Wendy Malick
- Quotes
Dennis Finch: [answering the phone] Morning, Blush. Underpaid phone monkey speaking.
- Crazy creditsThe episode "My Dinner With Woody" uses the same opening credits style as most Woody Allen films.
- ConnectionsReferences Sleeper (1973)
Featured review
Waggish Mash Note to Woody Allen
Offering up a Woody Allen homage when the actor-writer-director was still relevant and scandals had not entirely trashed his reputation, "Just Shoot Me!" creator Steven Levitan pens a witty satire on fame and hero worship spotlighting Laura San Giacomo and guest star Ed Crasnick that is thoroughly conversant in the Allen universe and that even takes a couple of sly swipes at him.
When Maya publishes an imaginary account of her dinner with her idol, she is surprised and naturally flattered when "Woody Allen" calls to praise her article. Of course, the "Woody" who then appears at the "Blush" offices is an imposter named Preston Beckman (Crasnick), but he looks and sounds sufficiently neurotic to charm Maya into some innocent dating even if he did appear unannounced outside her apartment window, although he at least brought Chinese takeout with him.
Suspicious Elliot digs up the dirt on Beckman, who had previously impersonated Little Richard and has obvious mental health issues (despite having become a millionaire selling office supplies online, enabling him to fund countless therapy sessions that would send the real Woody Allen into psychiatric ecstasy), finally convincing Maya that any relationship would be even more improbable than her article.
Levitan uses "Annie Hall," Maya's favorite movie, as the template for his amusing, sometimes hilarious "My Dinner with Woody," even framing the episode with Maya telling Allen's opening and closing fourth-wall jokes from the movie---in reverse order---to the audience (or at least one unimpressed bystander), as Crasnick indeed has Allen's shtick down pat, perhaps a little too pat, but is believable as the sincere if deluded schlub seeking a connection with Maya.
Montage sequences reinforce the "Annie Hall" connection although allusions to other Allen movies crop up along with a pointed rip at Allen's follow-up to "Annie Hall," "Interiors," his too-deadly serious Ingmar Bergman exercise that might be its own black humor. Even the episode's opening and closing credits replicate Allen's style, unassuming white typeface on a black background although the opening credits could have used a puckish Swing Era jazz tune to accent them ("Me and My Shadow," perhaps?).
"My Dinner with Woody" belongs mostly to San Giacomo, who runs through a gamut of feelings with professional appeal, with only a thin second thread sparked by Nina's having accidentally given Jack breath-freshener drops instead of eyedrops that leaves him temporarily blind and that is played mostly for predictable laughs. Otherwise, Levitan uses Maya as the stalking horse for his waggish mash note to Woody Allen, and it works to generally good effect, la-de-da, la-de-da.
REVIEWER'S NOTE: What makes a review "helpful"? Every reader of course decides that for themselves. For me, a review is helpful if it explains why the reviewer liked or disliked the work or why they thought it was good or not good. Whether I agree with the reviewer's conclusion is irrelevant. "Helpful" reviews tell me how and why the reviewer came to their conclusion, not what that conclusion may be. Differences of opinion are inevitable. I don't need "confirmation bias" for my own conclusions. Do you?
When Maya publishes an imaginary account of her dinner with her idol, she is surprised and naturally flattered when "Woody Allen" calls to praise her article. Of course, the "Woody" who then appears at the "Blush" offices is an imposter named Preston Beckman (Crasnick), but he looks and sounds sufficiently neurotic to charm Maya into some innocent dating even if he did appear unannounced outside her apartment window, although he at least brought Chinese takeout with him.
Suspicious Elliot digs up the dirt on Beckman, who had previously impersonated Little Richard and has obvious mental health issues (despite having become a millionaire selling office supplies online, enabling him to fund countless therapy sessions that would send the real Woody Allen into psychiatric ecstasy), finally convincing Maya that any relationship would be even more improbable than her article.
Levitan uses "Annie Hall," Maya's favorite movie, as the template for his amusing, sometimes hilarious "My Dinner with Woody," even framing the episode with Maya telling Allen's opening and closing fourth-wall jokes from the movie---in reverse order---to the audience (or at least one unimpressed bystander), as Crasnick indeed has Allen's shtick down pat, perhaps a little too pat, but is believable as the sincere if deluded schlub seeking a connection with Maya.
Montage sequences reinforce the "Annie Hall" connection although allusions to other Allen movies crop up along with a pointed rip at Allen's follow-up to "Annie Hall," "Interiors," his too-deadly serious Ingmar Bergman exercise that might be its own black humor. Even the episode's opening and closing credits replicate Allen's style, unassuming white typeface on a black background although the opening credits could have used a puckish Swing Era jazz tune to accent them ("Me and My Shadow," perhaps?).
"My Dinner with Woody" belongs mostly to San Giacomo, who runs through a gamut of feelings with professional appeal, with only a thin second thread sparked by Nina's having accidentally given Jack breath-freshener drops instead of eyedrops that leaves him temporarily blind and that is played mostly for predictable laughs. Otherwise, Levitan uses Maya as the stalking horse for his waggish mash note to Woody Allen, and it works to generally good effect, la-de-da, la-de-da.
REVIEWER'S NOTE: What makes a review "helpful"? Every reader of course decides that for themselves. For me, a review is helpful if it explains why the reviewer liked or disliked the work or why they thought it was good or not good. Whether I agree with the reviewer's conclusion is irrelevant. "Helpful" reviews tell me how and why the reviewer came to their conclusion, not what that conclusion may be. Differences of opinion are inevitable. I don't need "confirmation bias" for my own conclusions. Do you?
helpful•01
- darryl-tahirali
- Mar 5, 2024
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