[7.2/10] A definite improvement on the premiere. While Odenkirk’s Senator Tankerbelle character is a pretty weak caricature with all the subtlety ghost pepper hot sauce, wringing the comedy from the idea of government-controlled arts is time-tested and works here. Even Tankerbelle, who was the weakest part of this episode, gets a good setup and payoff with the “limberlegs” puppet.
David Cross having to wear a government-mandated shock collar and Tanerbelle interacting with a local puppeteer was mild at best, but once the show got to the “Children’s Books for Seniors,” a pitch-perfect spoof, the episode kicked into gear. The “Good News” segment about Cross as an anti-gay activist with frequent lapses into homosexuality was good satire. Odenkirk as a guy reading ridiculous voiceover announcements was a hoot as the disclaimers got weirder and weirder. The irreverent comedy of Jesus being pestered by a huckster who wants to interrupt the message of peace to sell self-motivational books and other merchandise was good for a laugh. And the Globochem commercial sales pitches got increasingly out there and amusing as well. (Pit Pat feels like the spiritual predecessor to the Human Being from Community)
The episode lost me a bit at “The Joke: The Musical.” It’s fun to see Jack Black doing what he does best with singing and frantic movements, but the show never really gets to humor beyond the basic premise.
Still, overall, some very solid laughs in this one, and creative transitions between the sketches.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2018-07-02T19:14:19Z
[7.2/10] A definite improvement on the premiere. While Odenkirk’s Senator Tankerbelle character is a pretty weak caricature with all the subtlety ghost pepper hot sauce, wringing the comedy from the idea of government-controlled arts is time-tested and works here. Even Tankerbelle, who was the weakest part of this episode, gets a good setup and payoff with the “limberlegs” puppet.
David Cross having to wear a government-mandated shock collar and Tanerbelle interacting with a local puppeteer was mild at best, but once the show got to the “Children’s Books for Seniors,” a pitch-perfect spoof, the episode kicked into gear. The “Good News” segment about Cross as an anti-gay activist with frequent lapses into homosexuality was good satire. Odenkirk as a guy reading ridiculous voiceover announcements was a hoot as the disclaimers got weirder and weirder. The irreverent comedy of Jesus being pestered by a huckster who wants to interrupt the message of peace to sell self-motivational books and other merchandise was good for a laugh. And the Globochem commercial sales pitches got increasingly out there and amusing as well. (Pit Pat feels like the spiritual predecessor to the Human Being from Community)
The episode lost me a bit at “The Joke: The Musical.” It’s fun to see Jack Black doing what he does best with singing and frantic movements, but the show never really gets to humor beyond the basic premise.
Still, overall, some very solid laughs in this one, and creative transitions between the sketches.