Over the last couple years we've seen networks hand out weekly shows to countless comedians. Some become popular, and spawn great followings, however many don't last. Eventually we all get tired of hearing the same old news stories repeated with one-liners, and the weakest are phased out before the next season. I've always tried to give chances to rising comedians, especially after seeing them in other programs. Observing Anthony Jeselnik in roasts and his hilarious stand-up sparked my interest in this show.
Please note that at the moment of me writing this, the show has been canceled for a couple months, to my dismay. Frankly, I enjoyed the show. I believe it had potential, potential designed to appeal to a certain audience. The Jeselnik Offensive followed a rather strict format, which in the episodes I watched (the majority of the first and only season) rarely changed. Jeselnik would generally start by running through a few choice news stories, which pleasingly tended to be unique and different from what everyone else was talking about. I remember watching Conan afterward each night and finding O'Brien's stories to be much more bland and mainstream, even considering Jeselnik only had to post one show a week. However his content was there as well. Jeselnik's strongpoint is his short, shocking, and hilarious jokes that accompany each topic. This was probably my favorite part of the show, and every episode had me laughing at loud at least a few times during this segment. The other prominent section of the show is "Panel", which as you might guess is a panel of people barely more famous than him in what generally appears to be a near-unscripted conversation. Unlike most shows, Jeselnik doesn't interview his guests, just talks to them rather openly and throws in the occasional dark one-liner. This segment is sometimes hilarious, and sometimes dry; it depends very heavily on the guests and topics. Sometimes the naturalness of the segment is what ruins it; the group will end up laughing hysterically at something barely relevant, leaving the viewer rolling their eyes. I believe this section could've been helped with better guests, however, as the funnier guests tended to make Panel much more enjoyable. The show would wrap up with a few very repetitive bits that would've been funny first time, but unfortunately were pushed to every episode. Despite my qualms however, I generally found myself left wanting more, the thirty minutes rushing by.
While many complain that Anthony's only asset is the shock value of his jokes, I must disagree. Not all of course, but many are genuinely funny if you can tolerate a darker (much darker) type of humor than most of us are used too. He seems to be naturally funny, and I was happy to see the lack of skits on the show, as this sort of humor is best voiced straight up. Many criticize his lack of excitement and his seemingly wicked personality, however I think these only add to his strengths. Comparisons to Daniel Tosh's sarcastic attitude seem irrelevant to me, as the brand of humor on Tosh.0 is much more crude than dark.
Overall, I am disappointed to see this show go and hope to see more from Anthony Jeselnik in the future. Although the show was not perfect, I believe Jeselnik to be much funnier than most run-of-the-mill comedians and it is refreshing to see an attempt at a darker brand of humor.
