TV Talk: Donald Glover’s ‘Swarm’ stings so good; rustbelt-set ‘Lucky Hank’ confounds

There was a moment in the penultimate season of Donald Glover’s “Atlanta” when the gang was in Amsterdam and Darius (LaKeith Stanfield) and Van (Zazie Beetz) witness death doulas solemnly prepare a man for his demise – presumably via palliative care — when a contraption suddenly and violently suffocates the man to death. It’s at once shocking and darkly comic, leading the viewer to gasp and laugh simultaneously.

Glover brings that same sensibility to Amazon Prime Video’s “Swarm,” a limited horror-comedy series with all episodes streaming Friday.

Created by Glover and Janine Nabers (“Watchmen”) with Glover directing the first episode, “Swarm” follows Dre (Domenique Fishback, “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey”), a devotee of Ni’jah, a fictional, Beyonce-like music-maker. (Ni’Jah’s “swarm” substitutes for Beyonce’s “Beyhive.”)

Dre, short for Andrea, does not take kindly to those who would utter any criticism of the singer she idolizes. And Dre takes her fandom to unconventional lengths. To get more specific risks ruining the I-can’t-believe-they-went-there surprises that make “Swarm” such a hoot to watch.

What begins as bloody and shocking becomes more routine over time, but credit Glover and Nabers for knowing when to move on from those initial surprises centered on toxic fandom and “stan” culture in favor of different, more character-centric revelations in the back half of the seven-episode series.

“Swarm” switches up its format for its sixth episode that explores true crime TV while still advancing Dre’s story in a way that gets serious about the impact of negative early childhood experiences. It’s an episode that both reveals the show creators’ sympathy for Dre while still generating laughs, particularly from a woman who knew Dre as a child and remarks, “You know how there’s that one kid who has a wheelie backpack for way too long? That was Andrea.”

The “Swarm” finale may not satisfy all viewers – it’s somewhat open to interpretation and not concrete – but it is a fitting finale to easily one of the year’s best, most outrageous series.

‘Lucky Hank’

AMC Networks seems on the cusp of circling the drain these days, which is a shame because they’ve found some decent new series with last year’s “Interview with the Vampire” and maybe with this weekend’s newcomer, “Lucky Hank” (9 p.m. Sunday, AMC, AMC+, BBC America, IFC, Sundance TV), starring AMC mainstay Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul,” “Breaking Bad”).

I say “maybe” because in the two episodes made available for review, it’s unclear what this one-hour dramedy will be week-to-week.

Think of “Lucky Hank” as a cousin to canceled, filmed-in-Pittsburgh Netflix series “The Chair.” Both are set in small, liberal arts college English departments but unlike “The Chair,” “Lucky Hank” takes place in the rustbelt, though exactly where is never stated.

Based on the Richard Russo novel “Straight Man,” “Lucky Hank” follows English department chair Hank Deveraux at Railton College in Railton, Pa. He’s in a state of discontent at work but finds solace at home with down-to-earth high school principal wife Lily (“The Killing” star Mireille Enos, smiling for once!).

The first episode suggests “Lucky Hank” will follow Hank with his “Office”-like academic colleagues and also Lily, who charms in her work setting.

But the second episode sidelines Lily and instead follows one of Hank’s students (Jackson Kelly) while Hank seethes about old resentments towards another writer.

While the pilot episode shows promise and is funnier than “The Chair,” episode two disappoints and confuses with no clear answer as to what “Lucky Hank” will be on a weekly basis.

In January at the 2023 winter Television Critics Association press tour, I asked showrunners Paul Lieberstein (Toby on “The Office”) and Aaron Zelman (“Silicon Valley,” “The Killing”) where they imagine the fictional Railton is located in Pennsylvania.

They didn’t want to get too specific – they want it to be a place where the professors feel trapped, somewhere not near a vibrant city – but grudgingly acknowledged it might be in the central Western part of Pennsylvania.

“We didnt want people to read into it, like, ‘Oh, theyre talking about our town,’” Zelman said.

Lieberstein said after “The Office” he was looking to develop something with a university setting with smarter characters than those in the hit NBC comedy.

“And I love this idea about tenure where you are trapped in success,” he said. “You can’t leave that job, so it just allows people to behave very badly in a semi-protected way.”

Odenkirk said he didn’t expect to jump from “Saul” into a new show so quickly.

“As everybody knows, I had a heart attack in the last season of ‘Saul,’ and then I had to go back after five weeks. … They were very careful about not giving me too much work to do. But it was hard,” Odenkirk said, adding that he did get to take a long-delayed family trip after filming and promoting the final season of “Saul.”

Then “Lucky Hank” came knocking. “It’s a gift if the network that’s making your show really wants it badly. That’s wonderful. It’s a rare occurrence. But it was pretty quick.”

Odenkirk said he was drawn to “Lucky Hank” by the script for the pilot and how Hank contrasts with Saul.

“Saul was really alone. He wanted Kim to love him, but she wasn’t somehow going to. They were never going to really be fully embracing each other. It was a tough guy to play,” Odenkirk said. “I like that this guy [in ‘Lucky Hank’] loved his wife and she loved him. I liked that he loved his daughter and even though they fight, she loves him. … I just like the positive sides to it in relation to ‘Saul.’ And I also did so much comedy in my life, and then to get to bring more self-aware comedy in — I mean, Saul was very funny at times, obviously, but he wasn’t aware of how funny he was. He wasn’t part of the joke whereas Hank gets to be the wisecracker and gets to laugh at his situation while he suffers it too.”

WTAE charity auction

WTAE-TV will hold its 36th “Project Bundle Up Auction” online from Friday through April 7, with 300 items up for bid with proceeds going to the Salvation Army of Western Pennsylvania to purchase new outerwear for local children and senior citizens in need.

Very Local seeks singles

Hearst’s streaming channel Very Local Pittsburgh, home of “Ed & Day in the Burgh,” seeks single Pittsburghers ages 21 to appear on a new locally produced dating series, “Local Love.” Apply on the Very Local website.