Season Review: The Andy Cohen Diaries Season One

Overview

This quick hit of pop culture content is seemingly what Quibi as a platform was made for. Fast-talking, jet-setting celebrity show host Andy Cohen reminisces about his encounters among the A-list with quick quips. From confessions about farting in front of guests to reveals of Kardashian blow job jokes that never made it on the air, if you’ve been craving some hot celebrity goss, this show’s for you.

Our Take

If you’re already a fan of Andy Cohen, these vignettes perfectly capture his mile-a-minute style. If not, the animated version might not convert you into a raving fan, but it’s quick and enjoyable enough for a 10 minute segment of upbeat storytelling. The super-kitschy art style seems like a deviation from recent projects from ShadowMachine, but its use of bright colors to depict medium gross situations is the studio’s bread and butter. Paired with Cohen’s accurately named Most Talkative productions, this series is the epitome of camp.

Despite being pulled straight out of 2019, and even a few from earlier this year, these stories feel like they’re from another time. Paired with the retro-feeling character design, it can carry you away from our current timeline if you’re willing to fully buy in. Each episode is delivered in a monologue from Cohen recounting an event from his diary. He covers things that happened on his show, his personal travels, and how his life has changed since becoming a father. The flow feels realistic with the personal journal framing, but it can be jarring when he starts a story about playing with his kid and having a bit of FOMO to a tale about partying on Fire Island and wilding out at a Grateful Dead concert. Reading an entry like this makes sense, because you can see how a person’s mind wanders. But seeing it animated gives an impression of a shorter timeline than there was in real life, which really makes you wonder what your parents were up to shortly before you were born.

The animation style is nearly as hyperactive as Cohen’s verbal approach, and visual hyperbole is used to full effect. Cohen’s body, his guests, and entire scenes morph to reflect what was felt in the moment, rather than how it looked in reality. A small detail that might only be hilarious to me is the way jumping and running is represented in these shorts. Legs stretched and squished with no regard for anatomy is always worth a laugh.

Overall, it’s a bit of levity presented in a unique way to appeal to existing fans, and possibly bring in some new ones. But with only six episodes and moderate appeal, it’s not quite worth keeping Quibi past the free trial, in my opinion.