"Mr. Show with Bob and David" (1995) TV series 1995-1998

Writer:

Brent Forrester (writer) (1996-1998)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Release Date:

3 November 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

The first late-night comedy show with an attention span shorter than yours.

Plot:

This is a sketch-comedy show. The twist here is that all of the sketches (Even the monolouge) are connected in some strange way.

Plot Keywords:

Sketch Comedy | Miniaturization | Shrinking | Actor Playing Multiple Roles | Breaking The Fourth Wall

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 nomination

Cast

David Cross	...	Various / ... (30 episodes, 1995-1998)
Bob Odenkirk	...	Himself - Host / ... (30 episodes, 1995-1998)
John Ennis	...	Various (30 episodes, 1995-1998)
Jay Johnston	...	Various (28 episodes, 1995-1998)
Jill Talley	...	Various (27 episodes, 1995-1998)
Paul F. Tompkins	...	Various (27 episodes, 1995-1998)
Brett Paesel	...	Various (22 episodes, 1996-1998)
Tom Kenny	...	Various (21 episodes, 1995-1998)
Brian Posehn	...	Various (21 episodes, 1995-1998)
Bill Odenkirk	...	Various (17 episodes, 1995-1998)
Dino Stamatopoulos	...	Various / ... (17 episodes, 1996-1998)
Karen Kilgariff	...	Various (15 episodes, 1997-1998)
BJ Porter	...	Various / ... (14 episodes, 1996-1998)
Theresa Mulligan	...	Various / ... (13 episodes, 1995-1997)

Also Known As:

Mr. Show (USA) (short title)

Runtime:

USA:27 min (30 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Brillstein-Grey Entertainment

Trivia:

Mr. Show regular Tom Kenny is the voice of Spongebob Squarepants.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Towards the end of one episode in the fourth season, the show offers the math problem "If he drives 15 MPH for fifteen minutes, how far has he travelled? Answer at the end of the show." When the end credits roll, they say that the answer is 3.5 The correct answer is 3.75

Quotes:

"Keith" the U.S. Customs guy: Where you coming from?
Nervous American returning from Amsterdam: I was in Italy and then I took a balloon up my ass to Spain.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Mr. Show with Bob and David: Fantastic Newness (1996) (TV)

Monday night TV's finest 30 minutes.

HBO for a short four seasons, ran this nearly flawless gem of a show to little or no fanfare, quietly this show fell again and again the woods of Friday at midnight, Sunday at 2AM, Monday at 11:30, Tuesday at 9:45 or wherever there was late night time to kill on HBO, building a following (and Emmy nominations) with ANYONE that took the time to watch it until executives canceled what they did not understand or know how to market.

As a parody of a sketch show every scene blended seamlessly in an interesting mix of absurdist comedy and just outright funny over the top comedic performances. The show had a razor sharp subtext on society, counterculture and the entertainment world. It's witty writing provided a smart and fresh take on nearly every subject under the sun from mediocre comedians, rock music teen suicide to senators paying for sex with wooden craft fair puppets. I've never found a sketch show that could compare or span it's width or depth of complexity in 30 minutes.

Impossible to define, no explanation can be given for this show but everyone I've taken the time to introduce the show is an instant fan after one or two episodes. Do yourself a favor and check out a season DVD of this show, I can nearly guarantee you'll be running out to find the other volumes and thankfully HBO wised up and released them in an acceptable format!

I've yet to find a show as entertaining as this show. Perfect television. A show whose time came too soon, Bob and David, we hardly knew ye! Thank you for the ride.