diff --git a/tinygrad/viz/serve.py b/tinygrad/viz/serve.py
index f241be0e6d..bcf26b9c64 100755
--- a/tinygrad/viz/serve.py
+++ b/tinygrad/viz/serve.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 import multiprocessing, pickle, functools, difflib, os, threading, json, time, sys, webbrowser, socket, argparse, decimal, socketserver
 from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler
 from urllib.parse import parse_qs, urlparse
-from typing import Any, Callable, TypedDict, Generator
+from typing import Any, TypedDict, Generator
 from tinygrad.helpers import colored, getenv, tqdm, unwrap, word_wrap, TRACEMETA
 from tinygrad.uop.ops import TrackedGraphRewrite, UOp, Ops, lines, GroupOp, srender, sint
 from tinygrad.codegen.kernel import Kernel
@@ -19,12 +19,6 @@ uops_colors = {Ops.LOAD: "#ffc0c0", Ops.STORE: "#87CEEB", Ops.CONST: "#e0e0e0",
 
 # VIZ API
 
-# NOTE: if any extra rendering in VIZ fails, we don't crash
-def pcall(fxn:Callable[..., str], *args, **kwargs) -> str:
-  err = kwargs.pop("err", "")
-  try: return fxn(*args, **kwargs)
-  except Exception: return f"ERROR in {fxn.__name__}\n{err}"
-
 # ** Metadata for a track_rewrites scope
 
 class GraphRewriteMetadata(TypedDict):
@@ -36,11 +30,13 @@ class GraphRewriteMetadata(TypedDict):
   depth: int                             # depth if it's a subrewrite
 
 @functools.cache
-def render_program(k:Kernel): return k.opts.render(k.uops)
+def render_program(k:Kernel):
+  try: return k.opts.render(k.uops)
+  except Exception as e: return f"ISSUE RENDERING KERNEL: {e}\nast = {k.ast}\nopts = {k.applied_opts}"
 
 def to_metadata(k:Any, v:TrackedGraphRewrite) -> GraphRewriteMetadata:
   return {"loc":v.loc, "match_count":len(v.matches), "name":v.name, "depth":v.depth, "code_line":lines(v.loc[0])[v.loc[1]-1].strip(),
-          "kernel_code":pcall(render_program, k, err=f"ast = {k.ast}\nopts = {k.applied_opts}") if isinstance(k, Kernel) else None}
+          "kernel_code":render_program(k) if isinstance(k, Kernel) else None}
 
 def get_metadata(keys:list[Any], contexts:list[list[TrackedGraphRewrite]]) -> list[tuple[str, list[GraphRewriteMetadata]]]:
   return [(k.name if isinstance(k, Kernel) else str(k), [to_metadata(k, v) for v in vals]) for k,vals in zip(keys, contexts)]
@@ -97,7 +93,7 @@ def get_details(k:Any, ctx:TrackedGraphRewrite) -> Generator[GraphRewriteDetails
     try: new_sink = next_sink.substitute(replaces)
     except RecursionError as e: new_sink = UOp(Ops.NOOP, arg=str(e))
     yield {"graph":(sink_json:=uop_to_json(new_sink)), "uop":str(new_sink), "changed_nodes":[id(x) for x in u1.toposort() if id(x) in sink_json],
-           "diff":list(difflib.unified_diff(pcall(str, u0).splitlines(), pcall(str, u1).splitlines())), "upat":(upat.location, upat.printable())}
+           "diff":list(difflib.unified_diff(str(u0).splitlines(), str(u1).splitlines())), "upat":(upat.location, upat.printable())}
     if not ctx.bottom_up: next_sink = new_sink
 
 # Profiler API