"We did it!" cried Hasan Minhaj at the beginning of the first episode of his new Netflix show "Patriot Act."
Minhaj, perhaps known for his gig as a correspondent for "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah", is perhaps broadly referring to his community. And rightfully so. A first-generation Indian American Muslim, Minhaj is breaking barriers in the late-night news satire genre. In a late-night game dominated by stale monologues and paltry impressions of Trump, Minhaj is a breath of fresh air, jokingly calling his show a "woke TED talk."
And perhaps this TED talk format is what makes this show stand out from the rest of the late-night pack.
Minhaj is standing up throughout the entire show, which might seem like a small difference. But this presentation and the constant angle changing of the camera keep Minhaj's charisma shining throughout each episode. The graphics are also another subtle but dynamic change as well, which takes up the stage beneath Minhaj's feet and surrounds the entire wall behind him, something that Minhaj describes as if "Michael Bay directed a PowerPoint presentation".
Minhaj also stands out in the fact that he is able to talk about seldom discussed issues and add a bit of his own personal experience to each bit. In the sophomore episode, for example, Minhaj talks about affirmative action and how a group led by Asian Americans is leading the new opposition against such programs. Minhaj joked about his own experiences as an Asian American and the educational expectations that he lived up to. When talking about Saudi Arabia, he made jokes revolving around his own experience with Arab culture. He also did a small monologue which he calls "Shitty Indians", where he gives all the reminder that Dinesh D'Souza is a total dickhead.
To put it simply, "Patriot Act" carries the same informative elements of "Last Week Tonight", the humor of "The Daily Show" and the insightfulness as a TED Talk. For this reason, Minhaj's Netflix series is a breath of fresh air from the same repetitive style of shows that jab the current political scene. Moreover, it can also help break Netflix's curse of butchering talk-show-style shows so early, such as Chelsea Handler, Michelle Wolf, Joel McHale and Dave Letterman. Hasan Minhaj brings a new spin on an exhausted genre in TV. He shows that while Trump's antics do provide fodder for late-night, it shows that even viewers can get fatigued from the same old comedic routine. For Hasan Minhaj, that's most certainly not the case.
New episodes of "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj" premiere every Sunday on Netflix.
