Billy on the Street is now on Netflix (not every episode, but a lot of them), and so host Billy Eichner took the streets of New York along with Chris Evans to shout at strangers about his new streaming home, and to do some marketing for Knives Out. Two things can be true: 1) Billy Eichner is funny and always manages to find a good joke, and 2) this is not a good episode of Billy on the Street. There’s no game! Billy on the Street works because it’s so absurd, and the best episodes are the ones where Billy ambushes people with some random but specific question. But this particular episode is so blatantly advertising it overwhelms the inconsistent effort at gaming the strangers. And it’s such a waste of Chris Evans! I mean, good on him for being a good sport and going along, but he literally does not have to do ANYTHING here. Paul Rudd does more in thirty seconds than Evans does in the whole segment. I can feel that we are going to be fighting about this, but search your hearts and you will know it to be true: This is not an effective use of Chris Evans’s time.
That said, the bit at the end with the lesbians is pretty good. But I do wonder if that bit happens because Eichner had a sense the episode overall was not really working? Maybe Netflix can throw some money at Eichner to do a making-of documentary for Billy on the Street, because that would be interesting in general, and specifically interesting for the Chris Evans episode. Like did they not prepare a game because just filming randoms freaking out over Chris Evans seemed like enough of a bit? The problem is, Evans retreats from that kind of attention. Even in a situation where it’s okay to go along, he doesn’t really (which is why Paul Rudd upstages him, because Rudd engages with his random). I would also be curious to know what DOESN’T make the cut in a Billy on the Street episode. Like what is just too awkward and uncomfortable to be included? So enjoy this episode of Billy on the Street for Chris Evans looking super hot, and Eichner making a couple really good jokes (I laughed at the Gina Gershon line). Lainey has nominated this for super soft TV, but I’m not sure Billy Eichner shouting at people is “soft”. Let us know what you think.
