I'm Watching These Three New Comedies And So Should You

Comedy is king right now. With the anticipated return of Arrested Development, Saturday Night Live finally finding the season's groove, and some of the top-rated shows as comedies, there's never been a better time to be funny! Recently, three new and/or upcoming comedies have caught my attention.

Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell

One of the things going for this show is that it airs on Adult Swim, already home to much sublime shows as Childrens Hospital and NTSF:SD:SUV::. Adult Swim has had the genius idea of producing comedies that are only fifteen minutes, and although you don't get a lot of time with the show, it almost guarantees that it can be funny as there's no filler and nothing to be dragged out. Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell follows the daily happenings of Gary, an associate demon in hell along with his horned and bespectacled intern, Claude.

Already on its own, the premise is funny: even in hell, the workplace is an Office Space type of monotony. In the first episode, Gary and Claude's task is to convince a baseball player to start praying to Satan instead of God. One thing I will need to adjust to is the gag-worthy premise that these hell underlings for some reason have to spend time with their faces in the urinal and toilet of the big boss, Satan himself. But a little (literally) potty humor is expected.  

Jon Hamm + Adam Scott + Simon & Simon = Genius

Adult Swim has kind of been on fire lately. Their hilariously bizarre show, Children's Hospital, just won an Emmy. And recently they produced "The Greatest Event in Television History," and with that title, you know they've got to back it up. So they did, with Jon Hamm, Jeff Probst, Gus Van Sant, Paul Rudd, and Adam Scott.



Hilarious right? Cartoon Network has commissioned Adam Scott to write a couple of more things along these lines and I know I can't wait. And that Jon Hamm? How totally unfair is it that he absolutely KILLS as Don Draper on Mad Men but is this genius comedic actor too? I kind of want to hate the guy but he's just so damn charming and handsome. Damn you, Jon Hamm!

TV Review: NTSF:SD:SUV:: The Best Show You're Not Watching

NTSF:SD:SUV:: (short for National Terrorist Strike Force San Diego Sport Utility Vehicle) is the perfect Thursday companion to its preceding show, Childrens Hospital, both premiering on August 9th on Adult Swim. Conceived by comedic Renaissance man Paul Scheer, the show emerged from a series of parody trailers that aired during Childrens Hospital. The name of the show was the main joke, a take on all the CSI and Law & Order shows. It's a pretty funny joke, but to develop it into an actual series? Would that really work?

Oh, hell yes. It works just perfectly.

The basic story structures are based on a secret government anti-terrorist group run by a strict leader, played by Kate Mulgrew (Star Trek Voyager!), and includes the nerdy scientist who is supposed to be nerdy but is Hollywood beautiful (Rebecca Romijn), the tough black guy (Brandon Johnson), the ass-kicking babe (June Diane Raphael), the intelligent robot that doesn't seem to have a purpose, and the nerdy tech guy (played by Martin Starr, playing his best Martin Starr). Leading the cast is Paul Scheer as hot-shot Tent Hauser, who provides the David-Caruso pun-and-sunglasses schtick on every show. And no, it never gets old.

The scenarios involve the gang fighting terrorism and evil plan-hatching masterminds, but like its Adult Swim companion show Childrens Hospital, its genius lies in broad, visual gags and parody. Surprisingly, this show is filmed with what looks like a very hefty special effects budget, so we get the visuals of a Michael Bay film with the comedic commentary of stupid action flicks. However, like most Adult Swim shows, no stereotypes, language, or topics are off-limits.

Nothing is too over the top for this show to cover. In fact, the more over-the-top, the better. Last season, evil talking dolphins, nuclear weaponry, cruise ship hijacking, and mind control were all featured. The season two premiere episode, "16 Hop Street," is a direct parody of 21 Jump Street. Even though the movie was released this past year, that film was a self-aware commentary on the show, but NTSF creates a direct parody. Guest star and comedy podcast superstar Jon Daly guest stars as the undercover cop who's been in deep cover in the high school for over 15 years and is the suspected perpetrator. The team enrolls in high school, where Piper becomes more concerned about her status as a the popular mean girl than the mission, and Trent keeps almost blowing his cover by injuring people.

TV Review: Childrens Hospital: The Funniest 15 Minutes Of Your Week

Within the first few seconds of the season premiere of the fourth season of Childrens Hospital, an epidemic of airborne amnesia affects all the staff in the hospital. It's up to Glen (Ken Marino) and Lola (Erinn Hayes) to find the source before they, too, succumb. Meanwhile, Doctor Blake Downs, who is immune to the virus, has manipulated the affected staff into believing he is king of the hospital and creates his own society. Meanwhile, hospital director Sy Mittleman does his best to cover up the source, caused by a toxic sledge dump, and retreats to his personal panic room. Chaos ensues before Dr. Blake Owen develops an antidote, saving everyone.

Amazingly, this story plays out in under eleven minutes. Childrens Hospital is a fifteen-minute time slot on Adult Swim, a genius idea that most shows would benefit from. Childrens Hospital is so bizarre, farcical, and broad that eleven minutes is all it can sustain, so you leave it on a high note. Over the past three seasons, it has been the single most hilarious fifteen minutes of my week.

First conceived by comedian/writer Rob Corrdry, Childrens Hospital began as a web series that was a timely parody of popular hospital-setting shows, such as Scrubs and Grey's Anatomy. True to its inspiration, the staff was more concerned with their own shallow lives than that of the patients. There were the usual archetypes: the handsome suave doctor, the tough-as-nails surgical chief, the neurotic relationship-obsessed woman, and the bumbling idiot. Even though hospital-themed shows are no longer in the pop culture zeitgeist, Childrens Hospital continues to barrel through parodies of just about everything else.

Rob Corrdry still steals every scene and is likely the most recognizable character on the show. He is always in full clown makeup because he believes in the "healing power of laughter" and a running gag is that he will choose this route over medical need. The rest of the cast is brilliant in their roles, each its own center of a running gag including Megan Mullaley as the hyper-sexual head of surgery, the ubiquitous Rob Huebel as Dr. Owen Maestro, Lake Bell as the selfish Dr. Cat Black , Ken Marino as the ultra-orthodox Jewish Dr. Glenn Ritchie, and Malin Akerman as the unknowing sex symbol of the office, Dr. Valerie Flame (in season 2, it was revealed that she is really John Hamm in disguise. God, I hope they come back to that at some point.)

The key to the comedy of Childrens Hospital is not only the actors' delivery and commitment to the absurd humor, but in the power of parody. The whole concept of the show is a parody, but as the seasons have progressed, individual episodes have carried on as mini-parodies, including my favorite episode, a send up of Our Town. The show perfectly captures all aspects of the genre it is parodying, making the recognizable riffs the biggest payoff.

First Look: Let's Do This

Because anytime one half of Mr. Show does anything, I'm there.

Here's the first episode of Bob Odenkirk's upcoming Adult Swim series, Let's Do This: