![]() ![]() For that reason alone, the hardcore fans of his movie and “SNL” work might be able to overlook the show’s problems, including the fact that it's like a long movie cut up into six chapters and no one really wants a three-hour Mike Myers movie. It’s not quite fair to call it a “Mike Myers Greatest Hits,” but it’s undeniably a product of its creator’s comedic history. ![]() Evil in his lair in “Austin Powers” and even a “ Shrek” reference. Myers isn’t remotely altering or hiding his sense of humor in “The Pentaverate” with several scenes of power players at big tables that recall Dr. Rob Lowe and Maria Menounos play themselves. It gets, well, chaotic from there, and also involves Debi Mazar, Ken Jeong, and Jennifer Saunders in supporting roles. Hobart Clark (Keegan-Michael Key), the man who they believe can stop climate change. After the death of Pentaverate member Jason Eccleston (yes, Myers), they recruit a nuclear physicist named Dr. In the pilot, The Pentaverate is revealed as an ancient society who has been trying to influence the world for generations-in a funny bit, Jeremy Irons introduces each episode as himself, varying the background details each time. ![]() The “Saturday Night Live” star also plays four of the members of The Pentaverate: Lord Lordington, Bruce Baldwin, Mishu Ivanov, and, believe it or not, Shep Gordon (the real life rock and roll manager who was the subject of Myers’ “ Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon”). He goes to something called CanConCon (Canadian Conspiracy Convention) in search of something major, and basically stumbles onto The Pentaverate, partnering with another journalist named Reilly (Lydia West) and a conspiracy nut named Anthony (Myers), who is fueled by an Alex Jones-esque nut named Rex Smith (you guessed it, also Myers). Myers’ best character in the project is Ken Scarborough, the kind of sweet Canadian local news journalist who has never really broken a big story as he does bland human interest pieces. “The Pentaverate” rambles and repeats itself too often, even if the glimpses of Myers’ undeniable skill almost make it work and might be just enough for those who have missed him so. The real conspiracy is how often talented comedians go to Netflix and can’t find the rhythm they did elsewhere-look at Judd Apatow with “ The Bubble” or Steve Carell with “Space Force.” There’s something just off with these projects, almost as if comedy needs to work within restrictions to be effective. Sadly, the occasionally inspired bits of humor get buried in amateurish stuff that needed another rewrite or an editor. Clearly once conceived as a movie, “The Pentaverate” is now a six-episode Netflix comedy series with Myers himself playing more than a half-dozen characters. “The Pentaverate” actually builds itself from a joke in Myers’ underrated “So I Married an Axe Murderer,” wherein the conspiracy-driven Stuart speaks of a secret society made up of the five wealthiest powers in the world, including The Vatican and Colonel Sanders, of course. And so it’s kind of exciting that a writer/comedian who has been so funny in the past wouldn’t just quietly come back to comedy but do so with a project drenched in a style so uniquely his own. It feels like forever since Mike Myers dominated the comedy scene with hits like “Wayne’s World” and “Austin Powers.” In fact, it's felt like he’s been largely retired, popping up in projects like “ Bohemian Rhapsody,” but generally absent from the genre that made him a household name. ![]()
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