Tim & Eric

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Tim & Eric
Tim & Eric, Beaver Boys (3236256860).jpg
Tim Heidecker (left) and Eric Wareheim on stage in January 2009
MediumTelevision, film, theatre, books, audio
Years active2001–present
Genres
Members Tim Heidecker
Eric Wareheim
Website www.timanderic.com

Tim & Eric are an American comedy duo consisting of Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim. They are the creators and stars of the Adult Swim television series Tom Goes to the Mayor , Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! , Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule , Tim & Eric's Bedtime Stories , and Beef House . [1]

Contents

Background

Both Pennsylvania natives, [2] [3] [4] [5] Heidecker and Wareheim met in 1994 at Temple University in Philadelphia; they became instant friends and collaborators, creating short films and cartoon strips that they put on TimAndEric.com. [6] A short film by the duo called Tom Goes to the Mayor was selected for screenings by the Philadelphia Institute of World Cinema and was included in The University of Pennsylvania's Institute of Contemporary Art. [7]

In 2001, the two compiled a tape of their sketches and mailed it to various comedians they looked up to; one of them, Bob Odenkirk, reacted with enthusiasm and agreed to collaborate with them on a pilot of Tom Goes to the Mayor . The pilot was submitted to Adult Swim, who offered to turn the short into a series which ran on the network for two seasons. [8] Their next project with Adult Swim was the surreal sketch show Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! , which ran for five seasons and established a cult following for the duo. They released a CD with music from Awesome Show called Tim and Eric Awesome Record, Great Songs! and released a feature film, Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie , in 2012.

The duo's work is known for its distinctively surreal and often grotesque nature, typically featuring what The A.V. Club called "bad fashions, worse hair, intentionally stilted line readings, takes that linger two seconds too long, and an intense attention to the tchotchkes and hobbies everyday people substitute for personalities". [9] Their projects often feature amateur performers and intentionally crude or tacky production values inspired by low-budget advertising, public access television, and video art. [10]

Projects

Tom Goes to the Mayor

Wareheim and Heidecker became the creators, writers, and stars of Tom Goes to the Mayor, a limited animation series that was on the Adult Swim programming block on Cartoon Network. Wareheim and Heidecker had mailed copies of an early version of the show to comedian Bob Odenkirk, who agreed to take on the project as the executive producer of the series and sold it to Cartoon Network. Wareheim played "The Mayor," an official who always managed to destroy Tom's (Heidecker) well-intentioned plans often along with the entire town as well.[ citation needed ]

Awesome Show and breakthrough success

In 2006, Adult Swim greenlit Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! and before the end of the year episodes were produced. It was created by and starred Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, and premiered February 11, 2007 on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim comedy block and ran until May 2010. The program features surrealistic and often satirical humor (at points anti-humor), public-access television-style performances, bizarre faux-commercials, and kitsch editing and special effects.[ citation needed ]

Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule

Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule is a spin-off of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! starring John C. Reilly as Dr. Steve Brule. Heidecker described the show to Entertainment Weekly as "a show that genuinely feels like this guy made it himself. It's as if it's 4:30 in the morning he had snuck into the studio to make this show without getting permission. It's bare bones. Lots of technical problems. Just a mess. The whole thing is a big mess. A big beautiful mess." [11]

Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie

Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (shorthand B$M) is a 2012 comedy film starring, and written and directed by Heidecker and Wareheim. Supporting actors include Zach Galifianakis, Will Ferrell, Jeff Goldblum, John C. Reilly, Erica Durance, and Will Forte, many of whom guest-starred on Awesome Show. It was released in theaters on March 2, 2012, and was released to iTunes and on-demand January 27, 2013. [12]

Tim and Eric's Bedtime Stories

Adult Swim picked up Tim and Eric's Bedtime Stories after the pilot episode aired as a Halloween special on October 31, 2013, with a seven-episode season debuting on September 18, 2014. [13] The series, which aired an additional two episodes in 2015, is an anthology horror series. The series' second season premiered in 2017.

Beef House

Beef House premiered on Adult Swim on March 29, 2020. [14]

Other projects

In 2009, Tim and Eric tried to work with Tommy Wiseau in developing his TV pilot The Neighbors for Adult Swim, but later backed out of the project due to creative differences with Wiseau. [15]

In 2011, the duo appeared in The Simpsons episode "The Food Wife", voicing two characters as well as performing a song they wrote.

Tim and Eric, along with LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy and comedian Gregg Turkington, starred in the 2012 dramedy The Comedy . [16]

Tim and Eric provided a few faux interview pieces with Maynard James Keenan that were used during Puscifer's 2009–2010 live tour. These vignettes were also included on the DVD/Blu-ray releases of Keenan's 2010 wine-making documentary Blood into Wine .[ citation needed ]

Tim & Eric collaborated with Michael Cera, Sarah Silverman and Reggie Watts in the creation of the YouTube comedy channel Jash. [17] [18] They released a series of six shorts on the channel, titled Tim & Eric's Go Pro Show, in which they attach cameras to their heads and film a reality show. [19] [20]

Tim and Eric published a book, Tim and Eric's Zone Theory: 7 Easy Steps to Achieve a Perfect Life in July 2015. [21]

Abso Lutely Productions

Abso Lutely Productions is a film and television production company owned by Heidecker, Wareheim, and producer Dave Kneebone. It produced Tom Goes to the Mayor , Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! and Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule .[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<i>Tom Goes to the Mayor</i> Television series

Tom Goes to the Mayor is an American adult animated sitcom created by Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim for Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. It premiered on November 14, 2004 and ended on September 25, 2006 with a total of 30 episodes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Wareheim</span> American comedian, musician, actor and director (born 1976)

Eric Alexander Wareheim is an American comedian, actor, writer, director, musician, and winemaker. He is best known as one half of the comedy duo Tim & Eric, alongside Tim Heidecker. He also had a recurring role on the Netflix series Master of None.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Heidecker</span> American actor, director, producer and screenwriter (born 1976)

Timothy Richard Heidecker is an American comedian, writer, director, actor, and musician. Along with Eric Wareheim, he is a member of the comedy duo Tim & Eric.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Super Deluxe</span> Entertainment company

Super Deluxe was an entertainment company owned by Turner Broadcasting. The company's main output was in online video, television series, and documentaries.

<i>Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!</i> American sketch comedy series (2007–2010)

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! is an American sketch comedy television series created by Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. It premiered on February 11, 2007 and originally ran until May 2, 2010. The show features surreal, dark and often satirical humor, public-access television-style musical acts, bizarre faux-commercials with a unique editing and special effects style by Doug Lussenhop to make the show appear off-kilter.

<i>Tim and Eric Nite Live!</i> American TV series or program

Tim and Eric Nite Live! is an American web series, which premiered November 8, 2007 on SuperDeluxe. The talk show stars Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, creators of Tom Goes to the Mayor and Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, and consists of a variety of strange segments often featuring Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! regulars such as David Liebe Hart and James Quall. It also repeatedly features Awesome Show regular Richard Dunn in a sidekick/father-figure type role. It parodies public-access television and talk shows in an absurd and often cringe-worthy style as in Tim and Eric's other works.

<i>Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule</i> Television comedy series

Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule is an American comedy television series starring John C. Reilly as Dr. Steve Brule. The show is a spin-off of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, originating in a segment called Brule's Rules. The series premiered on Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim, on May 16, 2010.

<i>Tim and Erics Billion Dollar Movie</i> 2012 film by Tim & Eric

Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie is a 2012 American absurdist black comedy film starring, written, directed, and produced by the comedy duo Tim & Eric in their feature directorial debuts. The plot follows Heidecker and Wareheim, playing fictionalized versions of themselves, who are forced to re-open an abandoned mall to pay back a wasted billion-dollar loan. The supporting cast includes Zach Galifianakis, Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Ray Wise, Twink Caplan, Robert Loggia, Jeff Goldblum, Bob Odenkirk, and Will Forte.

Adult Swim was an Australian adult-oriented free-to-air television block that was last aired from Saturday and Sunday nights on 9Go!. It was originally a separate network that shared channel space with Cartoon Network, starting in 2005 until 31 December 2007.

Adult Swim is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by Showcase Television, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily airs animated and live-action comedies targeting a teenage and young adult audience. Its branding is licensed from the Adult Swim programming block broadcast by Warner Bros. Discovery's Cartoon Network; it is the first full-time television channel to use the "Adult Swim" brand.

<i>Jash</i> Comedy community; YouTube channel

Jash is a comedy community and advertising agency created by Michael Cera, Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, Sarah Silverman and Reggie Watts. New videos are posted to the Jash homepage periodically by the creative team, and by new members of the always expanding collective of comics. Jash premiered online March 10, 2013. Since its launch, Jash has gone on to extend its reach into traditional media with television, series and award-winning short films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abso Lutely Productions</span> American television production company

Abso Lutely Productions is an American film and television production company owned by actors Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim and producer Dave Kneebone. It is known for producing TV shows such as Tom Goes to the Mayor; Nathan For You; The Eric Andre Show; Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!; and Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule.

<i>Tim & Erics Bedtime Stories</i> Television series

Tim & Eric's Bedtime Stories is an American horror comedy television series on Adult Swim. Tim & Eric's Bedtime Stories was created by Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim of the comedy duo Tim & Eric, who have been working with the network for several years with various shows and projects. The pilot episode aired on October 31, 2013, and the series officially premiered on September 18, 2014.

<i>Bagboy</i> (TV special) Television comedy special.

Bagboy is an American television special produced by Abso Lutely Productions for Adult Swim, and aired on February 21, 2015, to positive critical reception. Created and written by Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, and John C. Reilly, the special is a fictional sitcom pilot in the universe of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, written by and starring Reilly's recurring Tim & Eric character Dr. Steve Brule. This is the second Tim & Eric spin-off to feature the Dr. Steve Brule character after Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule.

<i>The Neighbors</i> (2015 TV series) 2010s American sitcom with limited release

The Neighbors is a sitcom created, written, directed, produced by and starring Tommy Wiseau. In Wiseau's first project since his 2003 cult film The Room, The Neighbors follows the assorted tenants of an apartment building and their interactions with the "manager", Charlie, played by Wiseau. Four episodes were released on Hulu on March 14, 2015. Two additional episodes were released on May 26, 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doug Lussenhop</span> American musician, video editor, and comedian

Doug Lussenhop, known professionally as DJ Douggpound, is an American musician, video editor, and comedian. Lussenhop is best known for his weekly appearance as co-host and valued member of "The Holy Trinity" on Office Hours Live. He is also widely recognized as the editor for Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, which prominently features his trademark editing style. He edited and acted in many Tim & Eric projects including Tom Goes to the Mayor, Tim and Eric Nite Live!, and Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie. In 2024, Lussenhop continues to support The Eric Andre Show Live Tour as its opening act.

Dave Kneebone is an American television producer. Along with Eric Wareheim and Tim Heidecker, he founded and runs Abso Lutely Productions, which produces a variety of comedic television shows and films. His role has been described as the business chief and "straight man" at Abso Lutely. Kneebone has worked as a producer on a variety of television shows, including Comedy Bang! Bang!, Nathan for You, and Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!. He is also listed as a producer on the feature film Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie.

<i>Awesome Record, Great Songs! Volume One</i> 2008 studio album by Tim & Eric

Awesome Record, Great Songs! Volume One is a 2008 comedy album by Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, collectively known as Tim & Eric, released on Williams Street Records. The album features many songs from the first and second seasons of their Adult Swim television series Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, as well as additional skits. It features many of their frequent collaborators on the series, bands covering songs from the show such as Built to Spill and The Shins, and remixes, including one by Flying Lotus.

<i>Beef House</i> Sitcom

Beef House is an American sitcom created by and starring Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim. The series premiered on Adult Swim on March 30, 2020. The series is a parody of 1980s and 1990s American family sitcoms, featuring Wareheim and Jamie-Lynn Sigler as a married suburban couple who live with the former's best friend (Heidecker) and a trio of eccentric men.

References

  1. ↑ "Tim and Eric's grotesque sitcom Beef House is cooked to perfection". TV Club. March 29, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  2. ↑ Longsdork, Amy (October 2, 2014). "Creepy Crawly Comedy: Allentown's Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim serve up haunting humorous drama in 'Bedtime Stories'". The Morning Call. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  3. ↑ Tim Heidecker [@timheidecker] (December 23, 2013). "Great to be back home in Allentown, PA!!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. ↑ "Eric Wareheim". IMDb. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  5. ↑ Gray, Ellen (July 18, 2017). "Tim and Eric's Eric on his tough Philly past, 'Awesome' present". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Tim & Eric - Prettybird". Lark Creative. May 28, 2019. Archived from the original on October 15, 2018. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  7. ↑ Baisley, Sarah (November 12, 2004). "Tom Goes to The Mayor Joins Adult Swim Nov. 14". Animation World Network. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  8. ↑ Amorosi, AD (November 1, 2017). "Congratulations Tim and Eric on Your Ten-Year Anniversary, Great Job!". Flood Magazine. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  9. ↑ Adams, Eric (September 18, 2014). "Tim And Eric ratchet up the "WTF?" factor in Bedtime Stories". The A.V. Club . Retrieved October 3, 2014.
  10. ↑ Zinoman, Jason (July 23, 2017). "Tim and Eric Figure Out How to Do the Wrong Thing, Perfectly". The New York Times . Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  11. ↑ Collis, Clark (2010). "'Check it Out! with Dr. Steve Brule': Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim on John C. Reilly's 'Awesome Show' spin-off". Entertainment Weekly.
  12. ↑ "Tim & Eric's Billion Dollar Movie Debuts Full Green Band Trailer". Comingsoon.net. 2011.
  13. ↑ "TIM & ERIC INTERVIEW IN APOLOGY MAGAZINE #1, UPDATE ON UPCOMING PROJECTS". adultswimcentral.com. 2013.
  14. ↑ "Tim and Eric's grotesque sitcom Beef House is cooked to perfection". TV Club. March 29, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  15. ↑ Rapkin, Mickey (January 20, 2012). "Live From Sundance: Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, and Will Forte" . Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  16. ↑ Zeitchik, Steven (November 15, 2012). "Tim Heidecker on youth, Louis C.K. and why 'The Comedy' is 'grotesque'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  17. ↑ Matheson, Whitney (March 11, 2013). "JASH: Your fave comedians launch a YouTube channel". USA Today . Retrieved March 11, 2013.
  18. ↑ Danton, Eric R. (March 11, 2013). "Sarah Silverman, Michael Cera Launch JASH Comedy Channel on YouTube". Rolling Stone Magazine . Retrieved March 11, 2013.
  19. ↑ "Tim & Eric's 'Go Pro Show' Parodies Reality TV With Absurdity". Huffpost. April 17, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  20. ↑ "Tim & Eric's Go Pro Show will premiere on YouTube channel JASH on April 15". LaughSpin. May 18, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  21. ↑ Collins, Sean T. (July 7, 2015). "Going Weird: An Interview With Tim & Eric About Their New Cult Satire 'Zone Theory'". The New York Observer . Retrieved May 28, 2019.
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