May 12, 2008

David Cross And Bob Odenkirk's HBO Sitcom Is Supposed To Be Good, Commercially Viable

The AV Club's Josh Modell saw the taping of David's Situation, the new pilot Mr. Show With Bob And David's David Cross and Bob Odenkirk are doing for HBO. Mr. Show fans have been waiting with bated breath to hear two things about this pilot, in order of importance:

1. That it's good.
2. That people who have never heard of Mr. Show might also think it's good.

Luckily, the news is cautiously fantastic on both fronts.

David Cross, after falling too hard for the trappings of Hollywood but finding no real meaning, has quit show business. He now shares a house with two wacky roommates--an idiot uber-liberal (Upright Citizens Brigade's Matt Besser) and a gruff uber-conservative (played by Eric Hoffman with an assist from a wardrobe department with a keen eye). Except for Cross, who's always best at playing himself, the characters occupy a weird sitcom world: They're no less believable or ridiculously broad than on most sitcoms, but with Cross as the voice of reality (as it were), they work.
...the plot, which took pointed, funny shots at fairly easy targets--To Catch A Predator and fleeting Internet fame--but brought exactly the sort of slight sophistication to them to steer far, far clear of MadTV territory while never seeming schoolmarmish. (Those who like Cross' stand-up, but only to a point, should be just fine.)

There are tons of details in the full recap (Zach Galifianakis gets mistaken for a child predator, Andy Dick makes an appearance, a new boner catchphrase is born). Like all reasonable people, I didn't begrudge David Alvin And The Chipmunks for one second, but hopefully HBO will pick up David's Situation and he can afford to say no to Chipmunks 2.

Posted by Lindsay at 5:41 PM in Sitcoms, Sketch Comedy
Tags: Bob Odenkirk | David Cross | David's Situation | Mr. Show With Bob And David