In the first episode of Next Time on Lonny, the titular character is singing along and having a glass of wine with his girlfriend. A minute later, the end credits sequence starts rolling, and we are cued into the segment of the web series. The madness begins. Lonny is a psychotic killer. The slasher parody of the introductory episode will leave you jumpy and yet gets you hooked.
The series is the brainchild of Alez Anfanger and Dan Schimpf. Anfanger, who plays Lonny, parodies a different aspect of pop culture in each five-minute episode. Because each episode is just a few minutes long, you might think it doesn’t have a lot to offer, but the creators manage to put on a good show in a short span of time. The themes include an alien invasion and a Back to the Future-inspired episode that feature five Lonnys arguing the merits of masturbation.
Lonny’s catchphrase, “You are really pretty, you know that,” is used in on a different woman in every episode. It’s no surprise that the first episode caught the eye of actor and filmmaker Ben Stiller. He produced the next season. Or was he coerced into doing so, as this episode claims?
The involvement of Ben Stiller’s Red Hour Films might have improved the production quality, but it seems to have affected the writing. The second season is not as hilarious as the first one, but it is still worth a watch. Several known actors, such as Kal Penn and Adam Scott (of Parks and Recreation fame), have made guest appearances, which is what you get when Stiller is the producer.
Several web series are tickets to television glory. The creators of Lonny starred in the television series Big Time in Hollywood, FL, which aired from March 2015. Brothers Jack and Ben Dolfe (played by Anfanger and Lenny Jacobson) are unemployed filmmakers whose parents are attempting to evict them from their studio, which is the backyard of their house. Stiller and actor Cuba Gooding Jr are the celebrity factor on this series. Meanwhile, a third season of Next Time on Lonny is eagerly awaited.