[6.0/10] I liked but didn’t love Mr. Show, so I don’t think I have rose-colored glasses when watching the first episode of this revival and finding it to be just okay. There’s things I like, things that feel like the version of the show that went off the air twenty years ago, but there’s also a lot of things that feel off or, at most, chuckle-worthy rather than earning big laughs.
And maybe that’s just rust. I have to imagine it’s hard to try to rekindle the magic all these years later and get back into the groove of sketch comedy. Nevermind that the young and hungry crew of before are all older and more successful now. There’s very little that’s outright bad here. Everything is passable at worst. But very little here has the zing or mild sense of danger that the old show had, even when it wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders.
That said, I do like that there are some of Mr. Show’s trademark connections between sketches here. Paul F. Thompkins’s character beginning and ending the episode with the threat that if he eats red meat, he might die feels classic, and the way it’s not only integrated into the “New Years Resolution” sketch but also with that sketch being integrated into the rest of the episode feels like the Mr. Show of old.
And hey, whatever the quality of the output, it’s nice to see the gang back together. In addition to Bob and David, the show brought back Jill Talley, Tom Kenny, John Ennis, Jay Johnston, Brian Posehn, and the aforementioned Paul F. Thompkins to kick things off. Sure, the whole port-a-potty time machine skit is pretty lame, but I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t something just fun about seeing all those folks in one place twenty years after the show debuted, making comedy together again.
The problem is that the two showcase sketches weren’t particularly good. The whole no-nonsense judge skit felt like a skit you might see on any old sketch show. It wasn’t bad exactly, but Bob’s character getting railroaded by David’s “some nonsense” judge, while Brian describes his ridiculously naive prelude to getting punched was milder than it was amusing.
And while it was an unexpected treat to see Paget Brewster on the show, the bit about a prestige director making a 12 Years a Slave-esque film where slavery is treated like a kindness is on the nose and repeats the same basic joke over and over again. There’s some clever social commentary in the idea of people white-washing the harshness of American history because it makes people uncomfortable, and the sketch gets point for capturing the look and tone of those films pretty perfectly, but it’s not really funny.
The fake ads fare a little better, if only because they’re shorter and punchier. The “Herschel’s Kosher Goyim Food” tickled me, especially with the absurdly-delivered idea that turkey versions of things like Jesus and the New Testament are suddenly okay for Jews. And while, again, it’s not very distinctive, the prilosec ad spoof about how medicine allows people to eat like “adult babies with money” is a good bit.
Otherwise, the sketches were fine but unspectacular. The New Years resolution skit dragged on a bit, but the premise of everyone having ridiculous plans but giving Paul crap for his “no red meat” resolution is at least amusing enough.
Overall, this was a bit of an uninspired return for the Mr. Show crew, but if you squinted, you could see some of the old spirit of the show being revived, so maybe this was just the new show working out some of the kinks.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2018-08-07T05:13:24Z
[6.0/10] I liked but didn’t love Mr. Show, so I don’t think I have rose-colored glasses when watching the first episode of this revival and finding it to be just okay. There’s things I like, things that feel like the version of the show that went off the air twenty years ago, but there’s also a lot of things that feel off or, at most, chuckle-worthy rather than earning big laughs.
And maybe that’s just rust. I have to imagine it’s hard to try to rekindle the magic all these years later and get back into the groove of sketch comedy. Nevermind that the young and hungry crew of before are all older and more successful now. There’s very little that’s outright bad here. Everything is passable at worst. But very little here has the zing or mild sense of danger that the old show had, even when it wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders.
That said, I do like that there are some of Mr. Show’s trademark connections between sketches here. Paul F. Thompkins’s character beginning and ending the episode with the threat that if he eats red meat, he might die feels classic, and the way it’s not only integrated into the “New Years Resolution” sketch but also with that sketch being integrated into the rest of the episode feels like the Mr. Show of old.
And hey, whatever the quality of the output, it’s nice to see the gang back together. In addition to Bob and David, the show brought back Jill Talley, Tom Kenny, John Ennis, Jay Johnston, Brian Posehn, and the aforementioned Paul F. Thompkins to kick things off. Sure, the whole port-a-potty time machine skit is pretty lame, but I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t something just fun about seeing all those folks in one place twenty years after the show debuted, making comedy together again.
The problem is that the two showcase sketches weren’t particularly good. The whole no-nonsense judge skit felt like a skit you might see on any old sketch show. It wasn’t bad exactly, but Bob’s character getting railroaded by David’s “some nonsense” judge, while Brian describes his ridiculously naive prelude to getting punched was milder than it was amusing.
And while it was an unexpected treat to see Paget Brewster on the show, the bit about a prestige director making a 12 Years a Slave-esque film where slavery is treated like a kindness is on the nose and repeats the same basic joke over and over again. There’s some clever social commentary in the idea of people white-washing the harshness of American history because it makes people uncomfortable, and the sketch gets point for capturing the look and tone of those films pretty perfectly, but it’s not really funny.
The fake ads fare a little better, if only because they’re shorter and punchier. The “Herschel’s Kosher Goyim Food” tickled me, especially with the absurdly-delivered idea that turkey versions of things like Jesus and the New Testament are suddenly okay for Jews. And while, again, it’s not very distinctive, the prilosec ad spoof about how medicine allows people to eat like “adult babies with money” is a good bit.
Otherwise, the sketches were fine but unspectacular. The New Years resolution skit dragged on a bit, but the premise of everyone having ridiculous plans but giving Paul crap for his “no red meat” resolution is at least amusing enough.
Overall, this was a bit of an uninspired return for the Mr. Show crew, but if you squinted, you could see some of the old spirit of the show being revived, so maybe this was just the new show working out some of the kinks.