Why Silicon Valley Couldn’t Survive Without Erlich Bachman

Silicon Valley was a beloved show, that had an all-star cast, and a unique take on the ever changing world of tech. The chemistry between the cast on Silicon Valley is a major component to the overall success HBO saw during the shows 6 season run. But when TJ Miller's Erlich Bachman was written off the show, Silicon Valley took a drastic turn in quality. When the chemistry holding a show together is broken, the show rarely survives.

#SiliconValley #TJMiller #Nerdstalgic

Written by Chris Teregis
Edited by David Sadvari

[Nerdstalgic]

Who is the most important character on Silicon Valley?

[jonasquinn]

I really enjoyed Silicon Valley but my biggest issue with it is how predictable it got, every season ended with things suddenly going to shit in order to create a cliffhanger no matter how well they might have been going before

[mitchellapple]

I actually thought the ending was awesome. I agree that things weren’t the same after Eric left, but they way the story ended was great and the documentary ending was a fantastic wrap up that left little to no questions.

[theManuScript]

ErLich was the man who pushed everyone’s buttons. So critical to have him there as a foil to everyone

[mikedelaney]

For what it’s worth, Mike Judge said the original plan was for Erlich’s character to end his run on the show 3 episodes into season 5. TJ Miller refused to come back for that, according to Judge, which makes sense as his character had run its course. With the plan for Pied Piper to grow into a larger company in the final two seasons, having a character like Erlich around wouldn’t have made much sense. I really liked the final seasons, it didn’t have the same vibe that seasons 1-4 had, but I like that they decided to actually have the company grow instead of constantly fighting to actually become a company like seasons 1-4.

[egg__boy]

I don't think it was THAT bad without him. Erlich was amazing, obviously, and it wasn't as good without him, but there's a lot of really amazing episodes there without him. He was outstanding but his absence wasn't soulless or stupid.

[CakeBevens]

He was missed but it wasn’t a huge ‘miss’. Show was still great without him.

[aaryamannambiar]

I thought they removed Erlich from the show very, very neatly. Like he actually wasn't necessary at all after that point. Seasons 3 and 4 were showing how lost Erlich was and how he drifted away from the main gang because he was just becoming irrelevant.

He was great in the show, without a doubt. But because of the way they ended his character, I didn't miss him, because I got everything I could want from him already. Now I just want to see the Pied Piper gang make it big through more trial and error and battle Gavin Belson. Silicon Valley could not have had a better final season. It was frustrating, interesting, thrilling, and fun all at once.

[WeeWooJoker]

Honestly, I didn't notice any huge difference in the show after Bachman left. The show still worked and funny to me

[BoyNamedSue]

Honestly I thought it was time for him to go story wise. Felt like they were trying to come up with reasons for his character to still be around.

[dfhouse]

Really can't agree on this one. I felt the tone wasn't lost at all. Richard was the beating heart. If HE had left, you might have something. I also don't agree that Dinesh and Guilfoyle were at the bottom of some narrative pyramid. I also never felt the show "struggled to get across the finish line", either. I thought the ending was extremely satisfying. Lastly, it would really help to make your case if you had included some "during Bachmann" and "after bachmann" scene comparisons to make your point. Crack open the show to show me! All I heard was how often you kept repeating how different the show was without him...with no examples. You didn't prove your case.

[bbauer]

Is it me or did this guy just repeat the problem like 50 times

[ThatOrangeGhost]

I liked the last season a lot and I didn’t mind the absence of TJ

[blaineholt]

Gonna have to disagree. Erlich was there to cause problems essentially, after he left they just allowed the problems to come from other sources.

[srjbeast_tek]

It was never implied that Jin Yiang murdered Erlich, it was obvious he was faking Erlich’s death to seize his assets

[trieshardgaming]

Bachman was missed in the last seasons.

Thank goodness Jared (Donald) Dunn was basically the only reason pied piper succeeded.

[madprophetus]

The only choice for how to replace Ehrlich correctly would have been to have the show's other extroverted, vain, selfish character (Russ Hanneman) lose everything and move into the house with them.

[mechajay]

Erlich leaving is when I started to tune out of the show. He was my favorite character and bounced off perfectly with the others.

[anthonyparra]

I think they replaced erlich in the way that they made jin yang (opportunistic side of erlich) and Russ (crazy selfish psycho) and the traits that make up both of these characters are what make up erlich as a whole

[Shlogger]

TJ Miller's personal life aside he was perfect for that role and really stole every scene he was in. The other characters were great but I agree with this evaluation that he was kind of the perfect 5th point of the star. Those first 4 seasons were pretty great despite the predictable disastrous ending every time. Got a little old. But it also seemed like Richard's character became much more unlikeable with each progressive season and the plots became a little thinner as things went on. Not the best thing for the protagonist of the series. I do like how it ended but Bachman was sorely missed in those last few seasons.