True Story with Ed and Randall TV REVIEW by Brooke Daugherty : Pop Culture Leftovers

True Story with Ed and Randall TV REVIEW by Brooke Daugherty

March 6, 2022 6:27 am |

Peacock original, True Story With Ed and Randall is Drunk History with a dash of wholesome. True Story is the American version of an Australian show called True Story with Hamish and Andy. It chronicles the amazing, triumphant, and emotional stories as told by the real people who lived them. Each story is reenacted by actors while the story is told to hosts Ed and Randall.

The titular hosts of True Story, Ed Helms and Randall Park, should look familiar. Both Helms and Park, mostly known for their comedic roles including together in an episode of The Office, have more recently been taking their comedic timing to more dramatic roles. Here, both are not acting, only listening and reacting to the stories told. Neither actor knows the story or the storyteller until we see it unfold on our screens. The entire story is told out in one take, making their responses genuine and sincere-two adjectives to describe each of these actors prior to this show.

Stories range from adventures, to lost love, to triumphant events. The run time isn’t set, with stories ranging from 20-45 minutes. The six episode season contains eight storytellers with shorter stories paired together. Stories have been condensed and edited from the initial recording, but all of the hosts’ reactions are and questions are purely their own.

If you need a dose of decent and moving content in the pandemic age, watch the first episode of True Story with Ed and Randall. You won’t be sorry. Then watch these two in more dramatic parts, because they are both highly underrated. High Taste It, only because it isn’t something I see myself re-watching multiple times.

PCL Rating: High Taste It

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: FRESH