This show gets so much undeserved criticism, mostly from your average viewer who is used to being spoon-fed the setup, the joke, and punchline all in one. These people will be left slack-jawed and drooling as they try to figure out what they just witnessed. It's funny to read these reviews that insult the intelligence of the writing or the maturity of the comedy, when half the people leaving these reviews simply did not (perhaps cannot?) attempt to fathom the nature of the comedic style beyond its surface level.
I'm not trying to say that only smart people can appreciate Tim & Eric-- it certainly isn't a show for everyone. A lot of Awesome Show is directly parodying crappy late-night 90s TV shows & infomercials. And while not everyone may understand that, there are so many 1 star reviews here whose writers clearly didn't have the basic intelligence to realise that there can be things that they don't "get"... and that doesn't make them bad.
If you recognise that nearly all of the show's content is heavily layered in irony and mockery, and that the main intention of Mr Heidecker and Mr Wareheim was just to have a lot of fun while making the show, you might find yourself enjoying it a lot more.
The actual quality of this show's humour is outrageously high. Every second of screentime is packed with jokes upon jokes. From the way the scene glitches into being shown, to the absurd or deadpan way the dialogue is communicated, the recurring themes like dads, eric's unchanging voice (even as a woman) and completely unnecessary and useless products.
There are actors who seem like they were brought off the street (and sometimes literally are), editing effects you'd expect from windows movie maker... The whole show is like one big late-night broadcasting acid trip. And I have never seen anything funnier, aside from maybe other T&E works.
The only issue I have with it is its duration. 10 minute episodes, 10 episodes per season, 5 seasons... the whole show clocks in at around 9 hours total, which is honestly pretty depressing. Thankfully Tim and Eric have worked on several other projects of a similar nature, some of which help fill the void.
Awesome Show remains my favourite show of all time, and my go-to show for a good laugh, for both sobriety and being stoned. Give it a go, keep an open mind. Have a few laughs and enjoy the ride.
