Whether you love him or hate him, Pete Davidson is currently one of the biggest names in comedy. He clearly isn’t going anywhere — considering his eight-season stint on Saturday Night Live, his stand-up comedy routines, legendary dating portfolio, and burgeoning movie career. He’s the perfect representation of younger millennials and older Gen-Zers; he has an unlikely sex appeal and a sense of humor that’s dark, but quite popular with the youth. After making the jump to movies with The King of Staten Island, Bodies Bodies Bodies, and The Suicide Squad, among others, Davidson is heading back to the small screen with the Peacock original series Bupkis, which is executive produced by Lorne Michaels, his old boss at Studio 8H.

In the series, Davidson plays an exaggerated version of himself. He lives with his mom (Edie Falco), tries to maintain a relationship with his dying grandfather (Joe Pesci), and has an on-again-off-again relationship with his girlfriend (Chase Sui Wonders). What’s interesting about Bupkis is that despite Davidson literally playing himself, this isn’t exactly the semi-autobiographical tale that The King of Staten Island was. In fact, Bupkis almost works more as an anthology series. There are some serialized aspects, but each episode tackles a different genre or kind of storytelling. Some of it is drawn from Davidson’s real life, but there’s also plenty that is so outlandish and out-of-nowhere, it’s hard not to appreciate the series’ high ambitions.

The first episode acts as a raunchy sex-comedy, as Davidson hires an older sex worker (Lynne Koplitz) to spend time with his grandfather and his friend Roy (Brad Garrett). The second episode shifts the tone dramatically, acting as a flashback to an actual wedding that a young Davidson (Preston James Brodrick) attended for his aunt and uncle (Bobby Cannavale) only a few weeks after losing his father during 9/11. The third episode changes things up once more, serving as a send-up of What About Bob featuring Charlie Day, and these first three episodes are just a small sample of what Bupkis has in store for its viewers.

Image via Peacock

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The overall plot of Bupkis lives up to its name (the title is taken from the Yiddish word, meaning nothing at all). It’s occasionally surrealist, but there are some moments that are clearly deeply personal and others that take the vulgarity to extreme levels. It acts as a playground for Davidson to play around in and experiment with. While there are one or two episodes that aren’t as effective, including a spoof of the Fast & Furious franchise with Simon Rex, the rest of the series is quite impressive. Yes, the massive ensemble of guests, including names like Jon Stewart, Machine Gun Kelly, Sebastian Stan, Art the Clown, and even Al Gore could have felt like a gimmick, but most of these cameos and guest spots do work and definitely help make Davidson’s world feel a little bit more real. Let’s face it, Davidson clearly has more than a few famous friends in his real life, so why not take advantage of that, especially since this is a series about him? Let’s be honest, who doesn’t want to see an imaginary evil Ray Romano saying the nastiest things imaginable?

Davidson is definitely sticking to what we know him for in Bupkis — playing a lovable doofus — but it’s the two main supporting performers that are the true stand-outs, which maybe shouldn’t be all that shocking when those are Edie Falco and Joe Pesci. It’s certainly wild to see Pesci back onscreen, especially after many thought this return to acting in The Irishman would be a final curtain call, and it’s even crazier to think that he’d come back for a show like Bupkis of all things. Pesci dominates the screen every second that he’s on it, whether it’s spewing foul-mouthed insults at Davidson, coddling a dog alongside Garrett, or having more tender moments with Falco.

Falco, at times, feels like she’s playing a toned-down version of Carmella Soprano, but pulls it off extremely well, and occasionally outshines even Pesci. Her portrayal as Davidson’s mother is the true heart of the show. She possesses that same sort of sarcasm she’s known for, but also has a real genuine chemistry with Davidson. Her character isn’t the mafia wife or drug-addicted nurse that we’ve seen before; she’s a widowed mother who is increasingly protective of her son, despite his monumental fame.

Image via Peacock

Davidson’s sense of humor is all over all eight episodes. It is as self-deprecating, dark, and politically incorrect as you might expect, but the more dramatic aspects also work extremely well. The former SNL star has never shied away from showing his vulnerabilities and talking about his struggles with mental illness, and Bupkis seems like it’s not just a playground of storytelling for him, but also a form of therapy. The series finds a way to balance the absurdity of being sucker punched by Stan or being at the center of a celebrity death hoax with themes of loss, addiction, and loving unconditionally.

Jason Orley, who has collaborated with Davidson several times in the past, directs six of the episodes and brings a certain cinematic quality to some of them, especially the season finale — a black-and-white tribute to Hitchcockian thrillers, just with a lot more drugs and jokes about human anatomy. Even in the quieter moments, there is rarely a dull frame in this series, and it finds ways to keep itself interesting both visually and story-wise.

Peacock has had a bit of a rough start, but after the recent successes of Poker Face and Mrs. Davis, it looks like the streaming service had finally found its footing with its original content. Bupkis is as zany and wacky as can be and, regardless of personal verdict, it’s hard to deny the ambition both in front of and behind the camera. From its excellent ensemble to its strong direction, Bupkis is one of the best new shows of the year.

Rating: A-

All eight episodes of Bupkis will be available to stream on Peacock starting May 4.