• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, April 11, 2022

At first, I took an immediate dislike to the new Peacock comedy "Killing It" due to my usual aversion to the casual use of the f-word, especially when it comes in the first sentence of a show’s first episode.

In Episode One of "Killing It," the word turned up along with a few others of similar pungency in the very first sentences uttered in the show.

It reminded me of “The Queen’s Gambit” where, if memory serves, the very first word in the first episode -- and hence the entire series -- was “F**k!” uttered by the plucky main character.

And that is when I bailed on the show because, I thought that at the time, I needed to hear this @#$%&! bulls**t like I needed a hole in my m****r-f*****g head.

After that, I never returned to the show which many other people seemed to enjoy very much. 

But I stuck with Episode One of “Killing It” and was glad I did because the show went off in directions that were surprising and unpredictable, which is rare for a TV show, if not nonexistent in the world of television content generally.

Craig Robinson (pictured above) is the star of the show and also serves as an executive producer. Robinson (the utterer of the pungent verbiage noted earlier) plays a bank security guard in Florida (also named Craig) who brims with ideas for entrepreneurial glory.

But like a latter-day Ralph Kramden, none of Craig’s moneymaking schemes have worked up to this point.

In the first half-hour episode of “Killing It” -- premiering Thursday on Peacock -- Craig is hard at work dreaming of a new one which has to do with cultivating a rare berry that he read somewhere is a natural remedy for enlarged prostates.

But Craig’s journey on this quixotic business quest takes a series of unforeseen twists and turns until, by the time the first episode is over, he finds himself embarking on a career path that he would never have imagined in a million years at the start of the show.

Without giving too much away, this new pursuit involves the freelance culling of Florida’s snake population, for which the state government gives cash awards. This is one of the meanings of the show’s title, "Killing It."

After that, the show was off and running and within a very short time while previewing the first episode of "Killing It," I came to understand how the show’s adult language helped to define its characters, settings and storylines.

I also came to regard "Killing It" as one of the best new shows I have seen in months.

“Killing It” starts streaming on Thursday (April 14) on Peacock.