1 review
Created for APTN in 2008 by Howie Miller and Sheldon Etler and originally pitched as an all Aboriginal sketch comedy group, what we got was not quite that, but still some decently funny, pushing-the-envelope, low budget sketches from a cast of half a dozen or so comedians as the serie's five seasons aired across ten years on the network. A bit of a bumpy road to say the least, the first season went on to be a bit of a success leading to a much larger budget and reformat for the second series. Bringing in a cliche of the genre I particularly dislike, season two introduced a full stage and live audience, with Howie, Sheldon, and the rest of the cast playing as "hosts" to said audience and introducing the sketches. From a producer point of view this often justifies the use of canned / audience laughter and harkens back to the variety show days much of the aging broadcasting execs want, and from the comedians view a live audience can really help with pacing and confidence in the material. That is, as long as its actually funny. Series like Mr. Show, Key & Peele, and even the Chappelle show all did this interaction with the audience in between sketches, but I find it more often than not kills pacing and are low points in the show. Luckily (perhaps unluckily for the show itself as it implies a reduced budget) seasons after the second go back to the newer "just show the sketches" format back-to-back, which I enjoyed, however unfortunately the show gets considerably more tame over its run and the later seasons lapse back to continual repeats of the same pop culture bits with new puns or lighthearted humorous situations. There's very little punch lines or gotchas in these sketches, instead most are a "this is a star trek / hunger games / harry potter / the office" sketch filled with some dad jokes loosely around whatever its mocking. Later in the series Kevin McDonald shows up for a few reoccurring roles, but nothing to get too excited about. I think I only laughed once or twice audibly over the series run (all of which is available on YouTube), but luckily liked Miller and Etlers recurring sketch around a middle aged first nations couple on a couch, and even more luckily there's was a spin-off series starring both for a single season called Delmer & Marta, which I'll likely check out at some point. All in all, if you're a massive fan of sketch comedy then sure I guess check it out, but most of the jokes seemed a bit meh. Probably wouldn't recommend.
- coles_notes
- May 22, 2023
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