Lil Dicky’s FXX TV Show Gets Mixed Reviews, Social Media Backlash

Comedy rapper Lil Dicky – whose given name is Dave Burd – has made the leap to the small screen. Burd, known for songs as “Lemme Freak” and “Freaky Friday,” has created a new television show on FXX. The show, called Dave, is a sitcom about a white rapper in his early 20’s, trying to make it big in the world of hip-hop. Fans of Lil Dicky will find the premise familiar – the show is a fictionalized retelling of Burd’s own rise to notoriety. Reviews of the show have been mixed, with some critics finding it to be funny and surprisingly deep, while others say that the show offers nothing more than childish, crude humor.

Dave is very funny. That’s not the most astute critical assessment, I know. But it’s what you probably most want to know. It’s also deeper than it has any business being, even if it never convincingly answers the question of whether this is a story that needed to be told in the first place. 

– Kevin Fallon, Daily Beast

At times, Dave [the character] can turn into the douchey, selfish, oh-too-typical dude he’s supposed to be parodying, which makes Dave harder to watch. A few simple, silly episodes feel a little too phoned in, but they could just be practice rounds as the show finds its feet. As the first season progresses, Dave expands its vision and finds fresh depth.

– Ben Travers, IndieWire

Dave … has a lot of the same issues as the comedian’s career-defining hit [Freaky Friday]… There’s plenty of comedic material to mine from the absurdity of the modern hip-hop industry, which has hardly been handled in scripted TV outside of Atlanta (itself a surreal but honest antidote to soapy musical dramas like Empire). But instead, Dave boils down to two core elements: He’s a white rapper, and he’s got dick jokes.

– Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork

Reaction to the show on social media has also been mixed, with many opposed to the show even existing.