Season Review: Let’s Be Real Season One

Television shows and films with puppetry are created for two different types of audiences. Stuff like The Muppets and Sesame Street was made for entertaining, educating, and amusing kids young and old. Others like The Happytime Murders and The Movie Show were designed for adults who want to see an edgier side of the puppets. Fox’s latest series, Let’s Be Real, happened to fall into the latter category, but to be completely honest, this should’ve belonged in the “Why Does It Exist?” category. Seriously, what was going through the executives’ minds when they approve this pile of fluff?

Let’s Be Real is a satirical puppet sketch show based on the French series Les Guignols, which ran from 1988 to 2018. It centers on a series of small comical segments that satirize everything involving political events, post-COVID-19 procedures, and even pop culture. The show was first introduced as an election-themed special back in October, which pokes fun at the presidential race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Spoiler alert: Biden won the election. Many months later, Fox decided to expand this concept into a series, giving the audience more of the satiric puppet goodness they’ve been craving for. Released near the end of April on Fox, the first season of Let’s Be Real, which consists of four episodes, was met with low ratings and views, which it deserved. You want to know why? Because this was possibly the worst thing that Fox has ever released on my television screen.

The 2020 election special of Let’s Be Real had some moments that could’ve worked well in terms of humor. Unfortunately, its bland execution made it extremely forgettable, in my opinion. So I wasn’t excited about Let’s Be Real becoming a series, and I had a hunch that it’ll wind up being as mediocre as the special. After watching it for myself, it turned out that my hunch was correct. The series got off to a pretty rough start in the first episode, which involves Trump selling classified stuff and the Mandalorian’s ignorant sidekick. After that, it all went downhill from there. It fumbled after taking the first step and never recovered. Everything about this show is either tasteless, bland, humorless, or all of the above. Mostly the latter.

To the show’s credit, it did have some neat ideas that could’ve been hilarious, like the Mandalorian sketch, the COVID-19 procedures, and the Supermarket Sweep sketch from episode three. However, they all wind up being insufferable as they all lacked a sense of charm in their comedy and the puppet designs. The majority of the sketches had plenty of jokes that involve politics, race, celebrities, and sexism. Unfortunately, because of the timing of the show’s release and its mediocre quality, they happen to be more offensive than amusing. The other sketch shows like Robot Chicken usually have a mixture of tasteless and comedy that benefitted from its clever writing and appeal. Let’s Be Real was undoubtedly an exception as it was devoid of any fun and charisma. As a result, it became a dull stand-up comedy routine that delivers nothing but crass and frustration.  

The puppet designs were all right for the most part. They match the celebrities’ appearances while also satirizing their personalities in the process. I thought the puppet Trump’s fish lips was one of the silliest things I had ever seen in my life. Whoever designed it like this deserves a raise. Sadly, Trump’s lips weren’t enough to overshadow the puppets’ stiff mouth movements and how they didn’t match the dialogue during most of the scenes.

Overall, Let’s Be Real was an infuriating experience that’s both insulting and highly tedious. There’s nothing more I can say about this. It’s just that bad. Dull sketches, bland and offensive humor, and the lack of charm make this a total disgrace to the art of puppetry and one of the worst things to ever appear on Fox.