Mr. Show with Bob and David

How can you quantify perfection? It is a standard to which everything else must be compared. Okay that makes a better diamond commercial than a comedy review. Bad skits are few and far between. The pace of the show doesn't allow for anything to drag out too long. For Mr. Show, nothing is sacred ("...we have a saying around here: Get used to it Hitler..."). While it may offend some viewers, who cares! The writing is near comedic genius. The originality of each episode is truly refreshing. My new goal in life is to distribute Mr. Show tapes to unsuspecting friends with the tenacity of a very tenacious thing.

Here in Australia you had to plain lucky to ever even HEAR of Mr Show, let alone see it. Only briefly shown on cable, it's a disgrace that this show hasn't been better publicised or more widely available, cos if it is was, I GUARANTEE it would become an instant cult for years to come. I'm not exaggerating, this is one of the funniest, sharpest, smartest comedies EVER! It's that good. While individual episodes were sometimes uneven, every one had at least two or three absolutely astonishing bits, and some were ALL good. Best stuff included the Ronnie Dobbs bits (soon to be a movie), the ventriliquist 'wars', the trippy Sid and Marty Kroft parody, and anything involving Jack Black as special guest, particularly the musical homage to JC Superstar ('Jeepers Creepers')and the one about the farmer's daughter. Beg, borrow, steal Mr Show!! I dare you not to laugh hysterically!

The comparison to Monty Python is inevitable (both Bob Odenkirk and David Cross have acknowledged their debt to their predecessor in interviews), but make no mistake: "Mr. Show with Bob & David" is refreshingly original and brilliantly funny. There have been so many hilarious moments on the show that it would be impossible for me to name a particular favorite. The sketches are so finely crafted that even when the jokes fall flat (which is extremely rare), they're still quite engrossing ("Coupon: The Movie" is an example). I've been watching the show faithfully since its second season and each new episode only leaves me wanting more. The show's strong ensemble cast featuring John Ennis, Jill Talley, Tom Kenny and especially Jay Johnston are part of what makes the show work so well.

Being on HBO, they're pretty much able to do what they please, but while there is plenty of profanity (not an issue for me at all), they are in no way reliant upon cussing for laughs. In fact, one of the more memorable sketches involved a take-off of "Goodfellas" being edited for television in which the cuss words were replaced with such phrases as "mother-father" and "Chinese dentist".

HBO deserves to be praised for recognizing the talent of Bob & David and keeping the show on the air in spite of its small - albeit fiercely loyal - number of viewers.

The next time HBO airs a "Mr. Show" marathon, don't just watch it, tape it!

Mr. Show is one of those rare sketch comedy shows that is actually funny.On top of that, they manage to tie each sketch to the previous one for added comedy goodness.The most important thing is that 20 years later, it's not dated.Try watching SNL from 20 years ago and most of the jokes don't make sense because they were about something that was only in the news for a week or two.Not the heavily edited SNL that plays on TV now, a full episode.You won't even recognize most of the people they parody.Proving that SNL has been a huge waste of videotape.Bob Odenkirk and David Cross are comedy geniuses who were smart enough to bring other great comedians to the show.People who would go on to huge success like Jack Black,Jay Johnston,Paul F. Tompkins,Brian Posehn,Tom Kenny(SpongeBob),Dino Stamatopoulos,Jerry Minor,Sarah Silverman,Mary Lynn Rajskub(Gail The Snail) and more great guest appearances than I could ever mention.It's amazing how unknown this show is considering everything Bob Odenkirk has done.He wrote for Letterman,Get A Life(Chris Elliot's show) and SNL.He has also been involved in producing,writing and acting in almost everything Tim & Eric have ever done, not to mention his involvement in many other Adult Swim shows.Watch this show.

This was (is) one of the most original TV shows ever. A little Monty Python, a little SNL, but very, very funny. This show should've been HUGE. Odenkirk could be a big star if he ever goes mainstream (let's hope not!)