LUDIC LOG

Or can they? A new DVD has been released of the first and second season of "Mr. Show", the phenomenal sketch-comedy series by Bob Oedenkirk and David Cross. I (along with my few friends who have seen it, and critics from the Onion, Rolling Stone, the New York Times, the LA Weekly, and pretty much everyone who watched it, which sadly wasn't very many people -- see below) have evangelized for it since it first aired, and have often said that, with the possible and arguable exception of the brilliant "SCTV", it was the best and smartest comedy since "Monty Python" -- the show it most plainly resembles. The DVD release gave me a chance to reassess that opinion and see, 4 years later, if it really was all that good or if my memories are simply gilded by time.

Well, happily -- and bittersweetly -- it is as good as I remember, perhaps better. There are certainly sketches that don't work or simply fall on their faces; but they tend to be ones you remember as not working in the first place, rather than ones you remember as being funny seeming slow or inferior with time and perspective. And certainly there are dated references; both "Mr. Show" and "SCTV" were a bit too fond of topical humor, a snare which the Python troupe generally managed to avoid. But taken as a whole, the only disappointing thing about watching it is why it's taken so damnably long for the show to get the level of hype it deserves.

And it's getting plenty of hype. HBO (probably using pocket money from the "Sopranos" budget has been press-releasing the release to death, and when I purchased it (at a chain electronics store), there was nearly a full shelf with nothing but copies of the DVD. No doubt this has something to do with the upcoming Mr. Show movie ("Run Ronnie Run"), and it's nice to see whatever the reason, but you can't help but be struck by the fact that, during its initial run, HBO almost completely ignored the best comedy in America. It got no publicity; its stars were given no marketing or publicity support; its enormous critical acclaim went unmentioned, even on network-produced spots advertising the show; and it was so underfunded that the cheapness of the sets and props actually became a running gag, highlighted in an early episode where David Cross breaks character in a sketch to sourly complain about the makeshift nature of the set.

In fact, there's a tangible, if admirably restrained, sense of bitterness in the audio commentary. Bob and David anchor the often-hilarious commentary, but the entire cast (who are apparently pretty well lit) show up from time to time. Unlike many audio commetaries on DVD, there's nothing gratuitious or time-filling about it. Bob and David are by turns brilliantly funny and achingly sincere; one gets the sense of how completely they poured their effort and energy into a show that had a cultlike following but never made any money and got no support from the network that commissioned it. Their personalities also emerge, not only as performers (one of the things that makes the material so incredibly strong is that Cross and Odenkirk are both gifted actors, with an incredibly keen ear for nuance and cliched language and a killing, but subtle, physicality) but as individuals: Bob Odenkirk is relentlessly self-critical, giving sharp insight on the performance aspects of the piece while punishing himself severely for what he sees as lapses in his acting or writing, while David Cross comes across as more cerebral and contemplative, assaying on nice little bits of metahumor or pointing out the subtlests visual references. Even when -- perhaps even especially when -- they're cracking wise, you constantly get the sense that these are two creators in love with what they did despite the difficulty of it, and no matter what their eventual reward are justifiably proud of the creation.

As for the material itself, there's just not enough praise available. In the first season alone (a mere four episodes), there's stunningly successful bits like "Natural Born Drunk" (the first appearance of Ronnie Dobbs), "Overcome" (a pitch-perfect take on Christian programs designed to 'cure' homosexuality), "The Joke: The Musical" (featuring the talents of the still-unknown Jack Black), and relentlessly hilarious sketches like "Supermodel Calling Service" and "A History of the Flag". The second DVD, containing the last two seasons, will be released soon, and I simply can't recommend this one enough. Funny, bright, self-referential, self-critical, and restlessly original, "Mr. Show" ended too soon and deserves to find its audience, no matter how late in the day it might be.