I doubt that Comedy Central will ever fully free itself from the looming shadow of Chappelle’s Show. The premature end of that show, for reasons that aren’t 100% crystalline but don’t reflect very well on the network (or Mr. Chapelle for that matter), transformed it into a martyr figure of sorts, a practically unreachable ideal of sketch comedy. In our collective memories it appears perfect, not only funnier than anything else on tv but impossibly so: something too funny to have actually occurred.

Which brings me to Keegan Michael Key and Jordan Peele, the two guys with the toughest job in the room. They are the brave stars of Comedy Central’s new racially oriented sketch show Key & Peele. They might balk at that designation, and the show itself certainly supports them, but check out CC’s pervasive subway ads – “If you don’t watch, you’re a racist” – then get back to me. It’s impossible not to think of Chapelle’s Show when talking about Key & Peele. Which makes it all the more pleasantly surprising that refuses to be held down by that albatross.

The first episode was funny, quite funny indeed. And I don’t even particularly love sketch comedy. It’s not revolutionary by any means, nor does it really come from any laser-focused comedic angle (whether it be racial, women/men, class, self-loathing, etc…). Both Key & Peele are versatile, neither one (as of yet) pigeonholed as straight man or livewire. Key, the tall bald one, is a little more manic, more physical, but can also dial it back to let the weeded-out intellectual Peele in.

The general theme of the show seems to be “things that they find funny” which is as good a choice as any. It keeps the sketches varied from riffs on cooking shows (including a weirdly great Gordon Ramsay impression), to a sketch that ends in the vacuum of space, and an Obama monologue. I wasn’t rolling on the floor at any point, but the guys have a likable energy, and they’re not trying to mimic their inimitable predecessor. The best thing they’ve done is forfeit the challenge of trying to be as good as Chappelle’s Show by just doing their own thing.

Continuing their quest to inundate their fans with fun and shenanigans while simultaneously coming off as too strange to recruit any new followers, Tim and Eric have started a new campaign to support the upcoming release of their movie. T&E’s B$M Pledge is the perfect thing for anyone who wants to let the world know how much they like T&E and how everyone else should too. So basically any T&E fan.

Consisting of a written and signed pledge that you will not only see B$M, but you will also bring at least one member of your family (or close friend, they’re not crazy) to the screening, which will be at a movie theater (unless it’s not playing within 50 miles) and you most definitely will not Torrent it, and you will tell at least 4 other people about it. Oh, and you definitely will not go see the movie Lorax. Because it looks bad.

Check out their YouTube Channel for taped pledges by Weird Al, Karen O, James Murphy, Paul Rudd, Elijah Wood, and more. And watch B$M on On Demand this Friday. Unless it’s coming to a theater near you. You promised.

Friday was really loose butthole until we got a surprise visit by mopsters and funnymen Blake Anderson and Kyle Newacheck from Comedy Central‘s hilarious hit show Workaholics. In town to check in at the CC headquarters while also hard at work (as always) writing the third season, the two dudes make sure to come by 350 Broadway.

Blake has been sportin’ Death Adders on the show for a minute, and was even nice enough to do a very funny interview with me last year. Kyle, who you’ll see pop up on Workaholics here and there as drug dealer and rape van owner Karl, is also a co-creator and frequent writer director. Thanks for dropping dudes,  we can’t wait for season 3.

Мишка
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If the first season of Todd Margaret already felt absurd, this second outing is taking that credulity and stretching it even further. While the 21 minute runtime has always felt brisk, this episode in particular flew through so many set-ups (not to mention jokes) that it almost felt like a different, larger show. But despite the busy plot machinations (which percolate a low-at-best level of intrigue) the humor at the core remains the same, and remains the only arbiter for your enjoyment of the show.

Personally, I think Todd Margaret (the character) is as funny in a low-stakes situation (visiting Alice’s restaurant) as he is in a off-the-wall high stakes one like finding himself in a rugby scrum while wearing a child’s outfit or crashing an 18 wheeler full of explosives into an strangely underused Peter Serafinowicz. It’s not that I don’t like those situations, but I almost want to tell them to save their money on set design.

I was a little bummed that we didn’t get much more of Todd’s father this week as Russ Tamblyn was such a standout last week, but we did get more of the mysterious Dave (though none of Jon Hamm as his manservant) and a healthy dose of Spike Jonze’s Whitney as well, who’s intellectual dandy persona has been played up much more in this episode than in past. Him and Arnett’s Brent Wiltes have now teamed up (presumably for the rest of the season, which is only 6 episodes) to get to the bottom of all the plotting.

Which, thankfully, leaves Todd to blunder around ignorantly as he does, hopefully only vaguely embroiled in any sort of expository action and instead left free to make an ass of himself and generally be the idiotic beating heart of the show. There were two stupendously cringe worthy scenes this week, the first being his plea to the head chef of Le Molecule to bring Alice on as a sous chef, because she’s “dying of retardation”.

The second, even more gutbusting encounter was his disastrous meeting with the Yorkshire Sports Club owners as he tried to sell them Thunder Muscle. When implemented correctly, a fart joke can still be funny, and Cross debased himself with aplomb. His rapid-fire monologue about not being a rapist nor the infamous Yorkshire ripper were the highlight of the episode.

I hope next week slows down a little bit, but I understood the necessity of an episode like this to get all the moving parts active, if only because they have almost no other time to do so. I continue to enjoy this series, but I also understand why it’s not for everyone, especially a relative insular outing such as this.

There was surprisingly little buzz when it was announced late last year that Matt Stone and Trey Parker had teamed up with Obsidian (the studio behind Fallout: New Vegas (yay!) and KOTORII (no!)) to develop a massive South Park RPG. The game, which is slated for release later this year, is fully written and voice acted by Matt, Trey, and the rest of their team, and features a huge cast with all the favorite characters. Though it may seem a mite strange on the surface, the kids have gotten themselves into more than enough epic, battle based situations to service a pretty huge game.

More details and screenshots (which you can see above) have been leaking out and they’re making me even more excited for this title. For instance, in addition to classes like mage and thief, you can also play as a Jew class. You’ll be wielding makeshift weaponry to fight (in a turn-based FF-esque style!) gingers, hippies, and presumably things like turkeys, mechas, crab people, and probably much more. Though I wouldn’t exactly call it a sleeper, I think this could really be a breakout success this year. I loved the humor of New Vegas, and the art style should smooth out a lot of that game’s graphical/physics quirks. A trailer should probably be imminent.

Hey look! Sports stuff! Though this may come from Chicago Blackhawks fan Frank Saracco, I think all us New Yorkers can appreciate it’s disdain (loving disdain, Philly fans. Relax) for the Flyers, especially after our epic victory at the Winter Classic. Better luck next time Briére, the 5 hole works a little better when the goalie stick isn’t fully covering it! Anyway, check out this mural that this dude made for his daughter. Bawww!

It’s all of the Blackhawks drawn as her favorite heroes like Batman, Thor, Lion-O, Shrek, and the dragon from How To Train Your Dragon (?). This girl is all over the place. The Flyers have been cast as Darth Vader, Wile E. Coyote (is he really evil per se? I guess so…), Maleficent, Skeletor, and Coach Laviolette is Stewie Griffin for maximum lolz. This is fun. I like this.

Via Puck Daddy

As I’ve espoused numerous times before, John Carpenter’s The Thing is not only my favorite horror movie but also one of my favorite movies of all time. It’s a true masterwork that has surprising depth, rewards repeat viewings, is always fun, and has the best effects I’ve ever come across. Clearly a lot of other people feel this way, and luckily some of them are much more talented and artistic than me. Which brings me to this stop-motion version of the film that stars penguins. Because why not.

Animator Lee Hardcastle co-opted the characters from weirdo Swiss kids animation Pingu and cast them in a breakneck remake of the film, grisly transformations and all. Look at how cute MacReady is! Childs is a seal! Bawwww. I’m particularly fond of the sweded version of the song that plays over the credits. Kudos to a YouTube commenter who pointed out the boat was missed on calling this Thingu. Thanks internet.

Via Slashfilm

Well well, isn’t this a pleasant little surprise. Portlandia, IFC’s breakout his sketch show, is premiering its second season this Friday night. But – BUT! – the good folks at IFC put up the episode already online. Hooray for us. In case you didn’t watch season one, Portlandia stars Fred Armisen from SNL and Carrie Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney) and is super hilarious.

I grew up as a really devout SK fan, so the fact that Carrie is now on one of my favorite TV shows is sort of nuts to me. Especially since this episode has several really great bits about Battlestar Galactica, and Jeff Goldblum, I love this show more than ever. Check it out!

Any Awesome Show fan worth his salt knows the inherent difficulty in explaining it to someone who’s never seen it before, let alone convincing your parents or other non-internet generation elders what the fuck is going on and why it’s incredibly hilarious.

Luckily for us, internet blog human Cathy Fisher has done this very astute and fun write up of just why, academically, Tim and Eric is both funny, and much more like other comedy than people would like to believe. In a good way. Ch-ch-ch-check it out, and be sure to rewatch the red-band trailer for the upcoming Billion Dollar Movie and apply all that you’ve now learned.

I must apologize, Reader, for the lack of posts as of late. It must be killing you. It’s certainly killing me, not being able to read my own writing. Rest assured, this temporary absence from the Bloglin will soon be remedied. In the meantime, let’s debrief.

Pictures of Cats
Recently I found myself at a Holiday party. I had been lost prior to the gathering, confused about the “real me,” but then I found myself again. Jk. So I was at this party, looking great and decorating a gingerbread man, when I got a text. It was a picture of a cat. Yes, a cat. It was a cat that I did not recognize. Similarly, it was sent from a number that I did not recognize. I sent back a picture of the gingerbread man I was decorating. No response.

Yesterday, I was on a date (I was actually just sitting at home, but whatever. I’m cool.) when I received another picture of this cat. It was a picture of some little boy reading to the cat, with the caption, “Leo reading a book to the cat :-)” This was getting out of hand. “Who is this cat?” I thought. “And who is this little boy?” I figured this sender was a woman and that she was using these pictures as a means to hit on me. That would make sense. I sent back a picture of myself seductively reading in bed, sans shirt. The caption read: “Wanted: One cat.” Needless to say, she came over later that night, sans cat.

Hip Hop
This video right here – you see this video? Well this video for Blu‘s “Seasons” was first released over a year ago, seemingly in support of a new project, but an album never surfaced. I waited. I’m a huge Blu fan. He might even be my favorite emcee. Finally, two days ago, a follow up to 2007′s Below the Heavens was released (I know! I’m stoked! It’s great!).

The producer-emcee tandem’s latest LP, Give Me My Flowers While I Can Smell Them, is phenomenal. It’s not as polished and produced as Below The Heavens (with some people complaining that it is unmixed), and a couple of the songs in the middle are slightly dull, but the songs that are great are fantastic. Exile, again, delivers incredible production, with Blu’s flow and lyrics largely exceeding that of Heavens. The only downside to this release is that now there’s nothing better I could get on Christmas. Shucks.