Who better than 30 Rock’s Alec Baldwin to dispense romantic advice to adorable couples? Besides “almost anybody else,” that is. The very incongruity of the famously volatile Miami Blues star giving relationship guidance is at the heart of Alec Baldwin’s Love Ride, a new web series from Above Average. The premise is that various cute couples will get into the back of a taxi with Baldwin, who describes himself as an “internationally recognized relationship expert,” and drive aimlessly around for a while as the former Jack Donaghy plies them with questions and comments which he is receiving through an earpiece from producer Paula Pell. (“Both of you seem so level-headed. Like, what’s an impulsive thing you do?”)
The actor is typically mercurial, vacillating between charm and total indifference, with his famous rage always bubbling under the surface. At about the 38-second mark of the pilot, for instance, he jokes a little too convincingly about strangling the driver with a Venetian blind cord. He also kids the couple about their six-year age difference. Fun fact: Alec Baldwin’s current wife was born in 1984, by which point her future husband had already completed his run as Dr. Hal Wexler on Cutter To Houston. As of now, two episodes are available. Should Alec Baldwin’s Love Ride become another Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee, producers may have to decide whether ABC stands for “Always Be Cuddling,” “Always Bring Chocolate,” or some third, funnier thing.