I was trepidatious when going into "Buddy System," afraid all of the personality of Rhett and Link, one of my favorite comedy duos on YouTube, would be lost in an expensive and corporate production. But one minute into the first episode, when the camera smoothly immerses itself onto the "Good Mythical Morning" set and follows Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal behind the scenes as the two discuss tucking their shirts into their underwear and whether or not it boosts confidence, I knew I was in good hands.
All of the fast-paced, zany, random, family-friendly humor that they showcase on GMM has made it into their YouTube Red debut. The story of "Buddy System," though it doesn't even take off until the second episode, is that Link loses his cell phone and their mutual former girlfriend steals it, intending to flood their channel with bad infomercials -- vengeance with a side of publicity.
But like I said, the story doesn't really begin until the second episode of this eight- episode series. The focus here is on the friendship of Rhett and Link, the anchor around which the show is constructed. The back-and-forth banter the two of them have is either so well-written that it feels like really good improv, or so well-improvised that it feels like really good writing. Their charisma carries every minute of "Buddy System," and when they're not on-screen, the supporting characters are equally ridiculous and fun.
Leslie Bibb shines as their ex-girlfriend, now dubbed "The Infomercial Queen" because of her empire of bad commercials, and though she mostly acts as the scenery-chewing villain, the more the plot develops, the more we get to see of her character, and of Bibb's range as a comedic actress. One outburst she has in the show's penultimate episode is riotous and makes one wish she had even more time on-screen.
Also in every episode is a musical number, full of the random lyrics that normally accompany Rhett and Link's songs. I appreciated that every song's style was different, as there's a rap song, a '90s boy band song, an early-2000s-era rock song, and even a barbershop quartet number. My personal favorite was a song about rollerskating that cleverly acted as, and this is just my interpretation, a satire of religious conflict. Pretty deep stuff coming from a lighthearted comedy show.
My only flaws with "Buddy System" are that one rather introspective episode toward the middle feels a little drawn-out and less entertaining than the others, and some of the joke reincorporation feels overdone at points, especially when we're on the sixth or seventh episode and we're still referencing jokes from the first instead of coming up with new ones.
Also, some of the visual effects don't really work, often feeling jarringly artificial and cheap, as is the case in the first episode, when we get a green-screen peek of a nighttime sky. But the comedic nature of the show and its own willingness to poke fun at itself save it, and the lackluster effects feel like jokes of their own rather than detriments. Most of the effects work is outdone by the outstanding production design in the musical sequences, anyway.
The most beautiful thing about "Buddy System" is how easy it is to recommend to people who don't even watch GMM. It certainly helps to be aware of Rhett and Link and the YouTube show they run, as their show is the McGuffin that launches the entire plot, but it isn't necessary to know who they are. As long as you like fun, ridiculous, and family-friendly humor, it's easy to recommend "Rhett and Link's Buddy System," and that this show probably has the most creative integrity, wit, and charm out of anything else YouTube Red offers is certainly worth a commendation.
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