Mr. Show: The Complete First and Second Seasons

-HBO (2001)

Summary

This two disc set features one of the funniest, irreverent, and most original series to air on television. In other words, it’s fucking hilarious.

My Thoughts

Mr. Show is one of the best comedy sketch shows I’ve ever seen, and it almost reaches the comedy throne that my beloved Upright Citizen’s Brigade sits upon. The two stars of the show, David Cross and Bob Odenkirk are comic geniuses that work along with a very talented pool of cast members and writers to create something that is funny in a way that most other shows cannot even hope to get to.

Admittedly, the humor of Mr. Show isn’t for everyone. Mr. Show has a wide variety of characters and situations you wouldn’t normally see on most programs of its sort. The skits range from the founding fathers of the U.S.A. coming up with a flag that no one can defecate on, to a take off on Jesus Christ Superstar. Some of the skits are fairly experimental and require a certain sense of openness for it to be funny. Don't get me wrong, it's not the greatest show I've ever seen but it doesn't ever degrade itself for cheap humor. While cusswords are employed, it never reaches the low quality that many episodes of a show like Mad T.V. grabs for. It has its share of stupidity, but it never seems like the show really goes for that toilet humor level that a lot of other programs manage to reach in a desperate effort for laughs.  

One of the coolest aspects of Mr. Show is the way the comedy goes from a small stage show (Mr. Show’s original conception), to taped segments and back again. Several times the show breaks the boundaries of its skits and involves the audience, and in at least one instance, David Cross breaks out of a skit and complains about where the show is filmed.

Since the humor might not be for everyone, I’d recommend a purchase if you’ve seen an episode already and liked it. If you have you won’t regret purchasing this set, if not I’d try to rent it first.

Extras

The menus are functional and useful, but I don’t understand why it asks if you want to watch each episode with commentary each time you pick an episode.

The commentary itself is humorous, although for long periods they just joke around and don’t add a lot of information about the show. This is okay though, because you learn a lot more about the show than you probably would ever want to know if you watch all the episodes with the commentary turned on.  The whole cast has a lot of fun creating characters to “watch the show” with them.

“Fuzz The Musical” takes the ever popular character of Ronnie Dobbs who stars in a making of a musical about his life. It’s basically an extra skit, but is extremely funny and well worth a watch.

“Best of Mr. Show” is an episode, which practically is the best of Mr. Show. The truth detector skit and the cock ring commercial are two of the funniest skits on both discs combined.

“Original TV Spots” is just what it sounds like, the spots that aired on HBO in order to promote the show. These aren’t just commercials; they are humorous pieces on their own.  Each one is unique and well worth checking out.

“Bob and David Bios” are sadly the dreaded filmographies, oh well.

Score:

Episode Average: 8.5

Extras: 6.5

Edition: 7.5

-Paul