User reviews

I remember this show from the early Comedy Channel days. It was right there with the first season of Mystery Science Theater 3000. I admit, I don't remember much about it, except that its the Higgens boys and Gruber who sit around on an apartment set and make jokes about stuff and show other shows like 'Supercar' It was like the thunderbirds, except in monochrome. It had a car in it. Even after it was canceled, when the Comedy Channel and HA! merged I'm told, you could still see the three guys in their comedy sketches on the channel. Joel Hodgson did some writing for this show.

I remember when cable comedy held unpredictable gems like MST3K, early Pee-Wee and "the Higgins Boys and Gruber". Low key, offbeat and full of surprises (before cable comedy programming became the bland mush of stand-up and movies it is today) The host segments were unbelievably laid back - the boys just sat around the kitchen table sucking down coffee and cigarettes. The fat Higgins boy didn't look like he could walk a block. They made MST3K's Joel Hodgson (who created both shows) seem like a dynamo by comparison. And the content! Talking monkeys! A robot detective! (or was that another show - it's all a blur) Clutch Cargo! (er - well, it was darn funny at the time) I will bless them forever for showing kinescopes of Bob and Ray TV shows - a real treasure from the vault.

Bring it back on DVD!

The Higgins Boys And Gruber were three dudes (Steve Higgens, Dave Higgins and Dave "The Gruber" Allen) who would sit around, smoke cigarettes, drink coffee, tease each other and play clips from films and television shows that they would then comment on. They would also do these little skits but not in the traditional sense but more like kids playing with toys and letting their imaginations run wild. They'd have faux shows like "Gruber After Dark" where Gruber would be a talk show host and interview the Higgins Boys in various costumes. They would sometimes play songs like on their Christmas episode (which also had a bunch of hilarious skits) and did songs like "Funky Christmas" and "Funky Little Drummer Boy" where they had an faux fourth member of the group Jerry, the tambourine player, who left the group mid-song. Their songs were usually very funny. They'd occasionally have guests like Penn Gillette and The Kids In The Hall. They later used to play shows like Clutch Cargo, Supercar and films like Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams and pretend not to get any of the drug references. This show was on from late 1989 - mid 1991 - virtually the entire existence of The Comedy Channel. I used to tape it all the time. Steve Higgins is now a writer/producer for SNL and frequently pops up as an audience member during hosts monologues. Dave Higgins went on to be on Ellen and Malcom (whom their other brother Alan writes for). And The Gruber has had bit parts in lots of great comedies (Mr. Show, Arrested Development). In a perfect world the best bits from the show (like when Steve was quarantined to a small part of the set) would all come out on DVD. A great show from a channel full of great interesting programming. The Comedy Channel went on to be The Comedy Network (i.e. The great HA! merge) and then Comedy Central.

Higgens boys and Gruber was one of the first programs I watched when got my very first cable-TV hook-up. It came on every afternoon when I got off from work. I had no idea that Joel Hodgson created the show, but in retrospect, it makes sense, dry humor and a great sense of pop-culture charm. I hadn't watched "Supercar" since I was 7 years old, and here it is again! I had almost forgotten the show. Today cable-TV sucks. There's nothing on worth watching, except perhaps the Family Guy and South Park. The History Channel doesn't even do history anymore. Where else could you watch "Joe McDoakes?" but the orginal Comedy Channel. Those were the days!

I really 'got' what the guys tried to do every show. Great stuff throughout, even the throwaway stuff to fill 20 seconds was funny. Gruber the Hellchild and Pigboy were clever stuff. I had a bunch of them taped but my mom tossed them when I moved out. That sucked.

If we had some copper tubing we could make a superlative bong. The Jimmy Peters stuff was funny and would have made a good Halloween costume, but the reference is a tad obscure. And who ever thought that a guy not understanding why Chaplin was funny was funny in itself. Does anyone know if the shows are on DVD or how many shows were actually made?