D6 | HOLIDAY EDITION • NOVEMBER 22-23, 2023
BOOKS
‘KILLING IT’
KEEPS ’EM GUESSING
Craig Robinson stars
in this absurd yet
fun comedy series
BRUCE R. MILLER | Sioux City Journal
I
f you are looking for some-
thing wildly unpredictable,
check out “Killing It” on Pea-
cock.
The loopy comedy follows
a hopeful security guard as he
drifts through various get-rich
schemes. What transpires is ev-
erything from python hunting to
a saw palmetto farm.
In the newest season, Craig
(Craig Robinson) is sure his farm
is going to be a gold mine, just
ready to cash in on the growing
supplement market.
LIVELY NAPA VALLEY REGISTER
QUICK
PICKS
How satisfying is it to read something
in a day? Here are 4 titles for the
reader without time to read
CHRISTOPHER BORRELLI | Chicago Tribune
‘Touched’
By Walter Mosley
176 “Touched” works mystery writer Mosley’s
PAGES lesser-known sci-fi muscle, in a brisk parable
about a guy certain he can cure the problem called
humanity.
‘So Late in the Day’
By Claire Keegan
Irish novelist Keegan’s collection, “So Late in 128
the Day,” is an hour or two of reading that con- PAGES
tains a lifetime of thoughts. Here, arrogance and
romance take the couch.
‘Our Strangers’
By Lydia Davis
304
Davis’ latest story collection, “Our Strangers,”
PAGES
finds the extraordinary (and extraordinarily pro-
saic) in a few lines: Subjects include stray coco-
nuts and a neighbor’s stare.
‘Thornhedge’
By T. Kingfisher
My current favorite writer of short novels is T.
Kingfisher, the pen name for a North Carolina 128
novelist of fantasy and horror whose tales build PAGES
knowingly on centuries of classics. “Thorn-
hedge,” her latest, offers knights, fairies, humor,
an impenetrable wall of brambles and — surpris-
ingly for the genre — that feeling of reading an original voice.
TELEVISION | REVIEW
Claudia
O’Doherty as
Jillian and Craig
Robinson as Craig just
want to find a get-rich
scheme in “Killing It.”
PEACOCK
PHOTOS
A Pitbull impersonator (Jose Pablo Cantillo) gets Craig (Craig Robinson)
and Jillian (Claudia O’Doherty) in a tough spot in “Killing It.”
There’s money there, all right, huge leaps taking them.
but there’s also a host of prob- It’s an encouraging approach
lems that crop up. (Wait until you that could be derailed once it gets
see what happens to his house.) past 2017 (the time frame for sea-
Eager to help, his assistant Jil- son two).
lian (Claudia O’Doherty) has her In the second season, Craig has
own goals. She wants a new KIA to deal with Pitbull imperson-
but has a problem holding on to ators (and their rules), a shady
motivational speaker and the
it.
Even worse, the Boone family sketchy state of Florida. There’s
is trying to strong-arm the two a blackmail scheme that will get
entrepreneurs. you to think twice about activity
In the course of eight ep- happening there now.
isodes, you hear about Absurd? You bet,
Hulk Hogan, land but that’s what
snails, “wall” toi- makes “Killing
lets and the quest It” so much fun.
for health insur- Dot-Marie Jones
ance. (from “Glee”)
Created by scores as the
Dan Goor and Boone matri-
Luke Del Tredici, Claudia O’Doherty arch and finds
“Killing It” is as Jillian a positive spin
much like Greg
Garcia’s oeuvre: “My
on spending time
in prison. (Yup, it’s
Name is Earl,” “Raising
Hope” and “Sprung.”
loopy, too.)
The farm chugs along, but
Those without a silver spoon there are so many unforeseen
still live with hope. One idea, circumstances, it almost seems
they presume, will give them like supplements couldn’t keep
that good life. Meanwhile, they it afloat.
have to deal with the forces that Robinson is more animated
threaten to keep them down. here and a great, low-key tour
Robinson, who didn’t suffer guide. Because the supporting
fools in “The Office,” is more and guest casts are so wildly
than willing to let them in here. goofy, it’s important for him to
He wants to give his daughter a go with their flow. The second
better life and isn’t afraid to take season’s five directors never get
risks. in the way of the writers’ curve
Jillian is more than willing to balls. They play to them and, sur-
tag along. She has setbacks, too, prisingly, “Killing It” stays in the
but a resilience that’s infectious. game.
And that’s what makes “Killing “Killing It,” both first and sec-
Can a fortune be made in saw palmetto? That’s what Craig (Craig It” so watchable. It shows us ond seasons, is available on Pea-
Robinson) and Jillian (Claudia O’Doherty) hope to find out in “Killing It.” people who seem incapable of cock.
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