Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Rainn Wilson: Awesome Show (Great Job!)

Tim and Eric's Awesome Show (Great Job!) is a show that's difficult to just blanket recommend to folks. The cable access outtake format requires a certain taste in comedy that a large majority of the population never acquire, even those familiar with Cartoon Network's Adult Swim lineup. It can often seem just weird for the sake of being weird, but through the insanity many great moments of surreal comedy bubble up.

Take the Rainn Wilson guest appearance as child singer Bobby Stoan, showcasing his limited knowledge of how to make babies (see video below). The visual joke of having Wilson's face digitally placed on a real toddler is funny enough, but having him sing "do you really have to pee in a girls mouth to make babies?" is beyond funny. Kids say the darndest things about 'the birds and bees.'


Speaking of birds and bees, music for this episode was, appropriately enough, written by The Bird and the Bee, the band featuring Inara George (daughter of Lowell George) and session musician extraordinaire Greg Kurstin. They provide the song that backs the bizarre affair between Dick (played by Tim) and Carol (played by Eric) (video). It's a nice homage to the Carpenters, like some lost 70's AM radio nugget. The Bird and the Bee are sort of returning a favor here, as Tim and Eric directed the bizarre video for their "Polite Dance Song."

Of course, it's not the first time Tim and Eric have had bands performing songs for the show. They've even released a whole album of songs from the show, Awesome Record, Great Songs, featuring the likes of Built to Spill ("Come Over,") The Shins ("Wipe My Butt") and Aimee Mann ("Hearts"). And if that weren't enough, this month, they released another EP of bizarre songs, Uncle Muscles Presents: Casey and His Brother, featuring music from last week's "Muscles For Bones" episode, and from their live tour this past summer.

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