Product Description

The complete first and second seasons of HBO's groundbreaking late-night sketch comedy series MR. SHOW. From Emmy(R) winning comedy writers Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, and featuring guest appearances by Jack Black, David Foley, Ben Stiller, Julia Sweeney and Jeanne Tripplehorn. Ten half-hours of comedy critics called "a twisted and often brilliant stream of comic consciousness ... fast, furious and funny stuff." - Rolling Stone.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16689 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-06-04
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 288 minutes

Amazon.com
Hey, everybody, it's Bob and David on DVD! In 1995 comics Bob Odenkirk and David Cross were simply "two people you've never seen before." Since then, each has insidiously entered the mainstream with appearances on TV (Just Shoot Me, The Drew Carey Show) and movies (Scary Movie 2, Dr. Dolittle 2, Men in Black 2). But to quote Odenkirk's bio (which is included on the first disc), Mr. Show is the thing you should see if you want to check them out. Like the late, lamented The Ben Stiller Show, on which both toiled, and Monty Python before that, this midnight-hour HBO series gave a subversive twist to the traditional sketch comedy series. Classic characters include Cross's white-trash poster boy Ronnie Dobbs, the superstar arrestee on a "Cops"-like TV show. Totally out of left field is an infomercial for an instructional video series by "Van Hammersly, Champion Billiard Player," who at one point re-creates the 1974 Kentucky Derby with billiard balls (one of the equines is named "If Mandy Patinkin Was a Horse"). Punch lines? Mr. Show doesn't need no stinking punch lines, as one sketch flows into another.

Bob and David are ably supported by, among others, Second City veteran Jill Talley, Tom Kenny (the voice of Spongebob Squarepants!), Brian Posehn (the creepy guy on Just Shoot Me), Mary-Lynn Rajskub (from The Larry Sanders Show), Sarah Silverman ("Greg the Bunny"), and a pre-Saturday Night Live Jerry Minor, who enlivens one episode commentary with an impeccable Billy Dee Williams imitation. As with the Velvet Underground's following, Mr. Show fans make up with fervor what they lack in numbers. According to Mr. Show's own Web site, "non-fans outnumber our fans by the cajillions," but this essential set should change that. --Donald Liebenson

L.A. Times
Some of television's smartest and darkest comedy

Rolling Stone Magazine
A twisted and often brilliant stream of comic consciousness ... fast, furious and funny stuff

Customer Reviews

Very Funny!
A friend told me I should check this out, so I did. It's really good! Bob and David move seamlessly between live (in front of an audience) and taped segments. I knew this model would work well when in the first episode they were on stage and talking to different versions of themselves in the audience. Definitely a unique model of television. Highly recommended if you like sketch comedy and mild ridiculousness.

Mr. Show First Season - Alternative Funny!!
Not laugh out loud in many places, but brilliant with regards to what I would call "cerebral" humour. Very interesting and provocative. Plus, you get to see early footage of the dawning careers of Jack Black, Jeanine Garofalo, and of course, David Cross & Bob Odenkirk. Was hoping to see some of David's stand up stuff in video form but was happy to see the infamous Ronnie Dobbs' entrance into comedy reality.

Take it from me ... I love you
What is it about the Canadians? They just seem to have a knack for droll, subversive humor, which is my favorite kind. "Mr. Show" is tied with "The Kids in the Hall" (another Canadian brainchild) for my favorite sketch comedy show of all time.

"Stream of consciousness" is the phrase that comes up often when people are talking about the show, and it's understandable. The skits don't ever really end, they just flow into one another, like some kind of comedic dream. The show is so non-linear and unpredictable that you're constantly amazed, confused and shocked by the places it's willing to go. But to just write it all off as obtuse would be a mistake, because underneath all the insanity are plenty of subversive and right-on political messages. One of my favorites is the advertisements for various "Globo-Chem" products, a giant corporation whose commercials go out of their way to insult and offend you, and then proclaim, with their tagline, "Take it from me ... I love you!"