Making a TV series is no small feat, but Jake Sasseville–who at age 15 became one of the youngest TV producers in history–knows what it takes. Sasseville’s newest project is Delusions of Grandeur, a comedy series hosted on Blip that follows the actor-comedian as he attempts to create a show about his crazy life.
Delusions of Grandeur stars Sasseville as himself, a would-be TV producer who pitches an idea for a teen talk show to a network, only to end up green-lighting a totally different show about his crazy mind. Concurrently, the show adds a third layer, taking viewers behind-the-scenes of Delusions of Grandeur itself. Towards the end of the first episode, the two timelines merge, and it starts to become unclear as to what’s part of the real show and what’s part of the act. The best comparison I can make is Curb Your Enthusiasm meets Christopher Nolan. Just don’t think about that one too hard, please.
Personally, I’m going by the philosophy that everything in Delusions of Grandeur is fictional unless explicitly stated otherwise. The best parts of this show are the most absurd ones, with Sasseville’s stalker-ific assistant and his neighbor (who made 20 million dollars though a hot dog-cooking invention) as the two most notable examples. The glue that holds the show together is Sasseville himself. Both his real life and fictional characters are neurotic, over-analyzing, and borderline psychotic, like a demented mix of Charlie Kelly and Larry David.
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I’ve now made two separate references to Curb Your Enthusiasm, and the side-splitting HBO comedy is definitely the best comp for Delusions of Grandeur. Both are zany, loosely-scripted, and centered around a crazy main character (who works as a TV producer). It wouldn’t say Sasseville’s effort is quite that funny, but it’s hardly devoid of laughs.
This series was meant to be a TV production before ABC Family backed out at the last second. Personally, I think Delusions of Grandeur‘s failed relationship with a network would make a great storyline, especially if Sasseville dealt with the news in the same way I imagine his character would: with a lot of twisted facial expressions and shrill-voiced discontent.
