Mr. Show with Bob and David: Genius or Overrated?

ok, so yeah, its a bit spotty, but what comedy shows aren't?? the high points were generally above most other shows ive seen. one that has stuck in my mind is the episode where the commercials progress from mayostard to mustardayonnaise to finally mustmayostardayonnaise (which almost had me on the floor) also nice to see some jack black stuff, i like that guy

To be sure, Python has its weak moments and all, say. But a potentially instructive comparison, maybe -- after watching a batch of Mr. Show episodes one day, friend Chris B. put on some Ben Stiller Show episodes, which also featured Bob O., of course. Call it a difference in the performers or whatever, but that show had me laughing much more readily than Mr. Show ever did.

Anyone who claims Python wasn't politically incorrect needs to rewatch all the episodes for any number of examples -- as well as hear the bit on the Holy Grail DVD where Terry Gilliam sez that when the film first played in New York a fair amount of the audience was shocked and horrified at the Black Knight being chopped up since there was an anti- Vietnam/anti-violence mindset that allowed for no humor on the matter. Perspective, my friend. ;-)

I'll grant you that one Dalai Lama sketch, actually, it was a doozy -- but that's about it from the shows I've seen in terms of a truly memorable zing.

"Fuzz: The Musical"

Goddamn it I've got that "Third Wheel" ditty stuck in my head yet again. Fucking catchy it is.

I'M A SUPERSTAR! IN A SUPERSTAR MACHINE!

http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/images2/OAR-P3-133-TV.jpg

classic.

my top 3 US comedys:
the larry sanders show
strangers with candy
sealab2021

there has sure been a lot of david cross backlash lately. i have 1+2 plus the third season of mr show on dvd but i bought them mostly because i was searching for one particular sketch and i rarely watch them in their entirety. that said, there are few tv comedy moments that have me laughing out loud whenever i later think of them but the dice and sponge sandwich scene from the third season had me laughing hysterically whenever it would cross my mind for at least a year after i first saw it.

pleasant plains and i have been watching the ben stiller show over the past week or so. its ok but id take mr show over it any day.

oh, and sort of on topic - what the fuck is up with kelsey grammer and that sketch show?

i still say american sketch comedy has never done better than mr. show, ever. i'm glad they cut it short before it got grotesquely awful (like later kids in the hall).

right now i'm wanting to see the streaking episode. if only for the heavenly sarah silverman's line "you sure slapped some meat in their eyes, jimmy!"

I like David Cross but there is something smug about him that grates sometimes. I far prefer Bob.

Oh yes, yes indeed.

the one and only sketch on the ben stiller show that reached the heights that mr.show reached regularly. and if he hadn't been able to do it on the stiller show it probably would have ended up on mr.show.

*bows in the direction of Mr. Seward, respectfully disagrees*

I realized it was trying to be that, but it just...wasn't. At least not constantly, not consistently, though it desperately tried hard (too hard?) to be that, forcing the humor and forcing quotes around 'loopy' and 'inspired' as a result. I saw a whole batch of episodes all at once and then a few here and there since and just...no, sorry, not more than wryly amusing here and there. Not *no* laughs, as I mention above -- Dalai Lama sketch, for instance, a definite winner. But gosh, so much of it could have been edited down, made dryer maybe...yeah, I'm not the guys actually getting up there and creating it all so I should talk, but if I find myself telling the show/sketch/actors to get on with it on a semi-regular basis then it's just not working for me, and listing a whole bunch of references won't convince me, much the same way that the huge list of injokes I can make from MST3K -- which to me just outstrips Mr. Show for laughs still, completely -- isn't going to convince someone who has seen a slew of episodes and just shrugged and moved on.

But yeah, there is the Cross factor. I love Odenkirk in Stiller, he seems dragged down and sprawling in Mr. Show = either Cross is even worse than I imagine him or the camaraderie on Stiller was a perfect secret weapon.

Anyway, Mr. Show doesn't work for me, you think the Kenna album sucks, and yet we are love. :-)

The one about Marijuana is one of the best things I've ever seen, but since every show changes into a million different bits, let me clarify that it's the one that starts off with Dave being high.

There are so many tiny details in Mr. Show to laugh at that most shows wouldn't bother to add. To say that Mr. Show was "trying to be" anything is assuming too much. It *was* a loopy and inspired show and if you see it as "trying to be" such, then I'd say you are projecting. It just is what it is.

Saying that the show was loopy and inspired because it was loopy and inspired is a bit glib. I don't doubt you like it at all and that you enjoy it very much, so can I ask that you consider the opposite point of view might have been derived from the same basic experience, ie watching the show? As I've had to point out on similar threads before, the very thread *title* invites debate, yes?

I actually didn't have much of a problem with Cross until I saw Mr. Show, to be honest -- I was completely neutral. Now, in combination with other things of his, I am not. Is that projecting or my reaction?

Anyway, onions. Yum!

xp

Yes, he's hiding in the background of every shot, like Waldo!

Or it appears that timestamped YT links do not embed as they should. Advance to six minutes & 45 second into the video.

So much analysis of David Cross' personality here, heh. The Subpop CD was classic standup to me, but I stopped paying much attention after that. Aside from the bit about eating gold foil, the one about racist zombies seems like it was also quite rich. Although if I listened to it now, his liberal (sarcastic, but still) use of the N-word might ruin it.

Overall though I think he's a well-meaning guy, not nearly in the league of smug bitterness as Bill Maher. Cross reminds me very much of friends who were picked on a lot as kids, never had much of a support network, and who developed alcohol dependency as adults. That alcoholic perpetual bitterness is pretty distinctive IMO.

yea Cross is definitely better than Maher but his first 2 CDs (which I listened to endlessly in college) irritate me now because the targets he picks on are so easy. way to stick it to the guy from Creed, dude. also once you notice that he uses "fuck" a ton as a filler word you can't unhear it. still I think he gets some credit, "It's Not Funny" was the first post-9/11 set from a major comedian to really go all in on Bush wasn't it? nah, I'm probably missing something.

I will share what I know when I can but Bob is one of the strongest people I know both physically and spiritually. He WILL get through this.

— david cross✍ (@davidcrosss) July 28, 2021

Collapsed on set if I’m reading this correctly?

Better Call Saul

first comment on that seems to imply Odenkirk has cancer; is that something that is rumored or known? Or is that just typical twitter hyperbole making personal a situation about something entirely different>?

(first comment under David Cross' tweet)

Nah, that's not the sense I got, nor did I get the impression the commentator was privy to anything we don't know. I got the impression the commentator was simply saying that physical and spiritual strength can only carry you so far.

wishing him the best. he just went through a complete body overhaul for Nobody into action figure physique, so i presume they did a fair amount of blood work, etc while he was getting in shape and the fact that it's apparently unclear what the problem is makes it sound pretty serious.

welp: https://www.thedailybeast.com/actor-jay-johnston-banned-from-bobs-burgers-over-capitol-riot

Everest his earned goodwill and the thimbles his career now.

"banned" huh

It is a bit of a drag that Fox makes quite a few shows I like as ultimately giving any money to these motherfuckers is wrong.

Pretty much if the Simpsons had not have happened, would ANY of this Murdoch media shit gotten off the ground? Fox TV was circling the drain and pretty much the success of the Simpsons snowballed which gave them money to buy the NFL contract which snowballed into the news network.

But hey man, fight the fight I guess.

yup... i've been very quick to find any off-ramp for Fox/FX/etc programming I start to enjoy.

AT&T (HBO, TBS etc.) funds OANN, so it's not much different elsewhere.

The Simpsons killed democracy

I mean...it's legit to boycott Fox, but they're Disney now, and Fox News is a completely separate entity at this point. So Murdoch isn't gonna feel your sting, I'm afraid.

The regular Fox TV network isn't with Disney, who couldn't buy them because they already own ABC.

'80s-->'90s Fox was wild: Simpsons; Married...With Children; 21 Jump St.; In Living Color; Martin; 90210

Cops; America's Most Wanted

Werewolf

Herman's Head

The greatest show ever:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woops!?wprov=sfti1

X Files

Get a Life!

Action, with Jay Mohr.

lol that it took this long

NEW: Jay Johnston — of Mr. Show, Arrested Development, The Sarah Silverman Show, Bob's Burger's, and Anchorman fame — has been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. https://t.co/HdHbVwISOk

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) June 7, 2023

Talk about something not being on your bingo card (or at least, not before Jan. 6). I can only imagine how I would have reacted to this prediction back in the late '90s.

How could you think that this was a coup??!!

Idiot!

Talk about something not being on your bingo card (or at least, not before Jan. 6). I can only imagine how I would have reacted to this prediction back in the late '90s.

Not just famous, respected actor! Mr. Show begot Emmy nominations, federal indictments, and the voice of Spongebob.

Not sure which part of “Mr. Show actor arrested in coup attempt by President Donald Trump, who was defeated by Joe Biden” would have surprised me most back then

THR has obtained a photo of Jay Johnston from a party last October in which he appeared to be dressed as the so-called "Qanon Shaman," who previously pled guilty to storming the Capitol on Jan. 6

https://i.imgur.com/slxf9PS.jpg

Odenkirk's range is insane. he was so good playing a ditzy hunk lawyer on Seinfeld. and then a porn star on Curb. actually I really admire how a dude who's so naturally funny was willing to be the straight man so often.

not a lot of evidence these days that the arc of the universe bends towards justice, but Bob Odenkirk got to star in a prestige drama where he could show off his full range, develop it further, and get numerous accolades for it.

he also got to be on Dr. Katz a couple times

xp and he got to cheat death recently.

and got to make his own John Wick movie

Nobody was so much fun

Meanwhile, David Cross just gets to sit around collecting Alvin and the Chipmunk movie residuals while hoping no one brings up the fact that he used to be best friends with Gavin McInnes.

it's pretty wild to imagine that one of the greatest TV dramas ever made was nearly forced to just end on a massive cliffhanger because one of the Mr. Show guys had a heart attack

They could have just replaced Bob with David. No one would have noticed.

Good find, somebody:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBsRvdHJUDk

Hank Dobson's Mini-Mart & Country

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSqALwnF2QA

haha, i'm not much of a podcast listener but i just skipped to the middle to get the gist of it and bob was sharing his theory (or really, just the facts) that when a murder takes place on a tv show or movie, that murder actually happened in real life