Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!

Last updated

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
Tim and Eric Awesome Show title.png
Genre Sketch comedy
Surreal humor
Cringe comedy
Anti-humor
Comedy horror
Satire
Black comedy
Parody
Created by Tim & Eric
Starring Tim Heidecker
Eric Wareheim
Opening theme"Awesome Show Theme" by Davin Wood and DJ Douggpound
ComposerDavin Wood
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes50 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersTim Heidecker
Eric Wareheim
Producers Jon Mugar
Dave Kneebone
Running time11-22 minutes
Production companies Abso Lutely Productions
Naked Faces
Williams Street
Original release
Network Adult Swim
ReleaseFebruary 11, 2007 (2007-02-11) 
May 2, 2010 (2010-05-02)
Related
Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule
Tom Goes to the Mayor
Tim and Eric Nite Live!

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. [1] It premiered on February 11, 2007 and originally ran until May 2, 2010. The show features surreal, dark and often satirical humor (at points anti-humor and cringe comedy), 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. [2]

Contents

The program features a wide range of performers, including regular guests Zach Galifianakis, John C. Reilly, Ray Wise, Bob Odenkirk, Will Forte, Maria Bamford, Jeff Goldblum, and "Weird Al" Yankovic, as well as an ensemble of alternative performers like Neil Hamburger, Tommy Wiseau, and David Liebe Hart, once popular stars like Karen Black, Frank Stallone, and Alan Thicke, porn stars, celebrity look-alikes, impressionists, and amateur actors found through Craigslist. The show also attracted a wide range of popular Hollywood talent for brief appearances, including Will Ferrell, Elisha Cuthbert, Andy Samberg, Jonah Hill, Ben Stiller, Paul Rudd, Ted Danson, and Josh Groban, among others. The creators of the show have described it as "the nightmare version of television".

Synopsis

The show, which expands the genre of the live-action material featured in Heidecker and Wareheim's previous show, Tom Goes to the Mayor , consists of sketches, songs, and commercials. It features several characters and segments seen in Tom Goes to the Mayor, such as Gibbons, the "Channel 5 Married News Team," and the Cinco Corporation with its variety of inefficient and tasteless products. New recurring characters and sketches include "Uncle Muscles Hour," a public-access television variety program hosted by a gravelly-voiced "Weird Al" Yankovic and Channel 5 News Correspondent Dr. Steve Brule, played by John C. Reilly. The show featured a variety of celebrity cameos from actors, comedians, and musicians. The editing style takes its influence from such elements as infomercials, corporate training videos, and TV shopping channels, which are all satirized. The show gets darker in season 5, or "Season Cinco", which has a TV MA rating.

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1 10February 11, 2007 (2007-02-11)April 15, 2007 (2007-04-15)
2 10November 18, 2007 (2007-11-18)January 27, 2008 (2008-01-27)
3 10July 27, 2008 (2008-07-27)September 28, 2008 (2008-09-28)
4 10February 9, 2009 (2009-02-09)April 12, 2009 (2009-04-12)
5 10February 28, 2010 (2010-02-28)May 2, 2010 (2010-05-02)
Specials 2December 5, 2010 (2010-12-05)August 27, 2017 (2017-08-27)

International broadcast

In Canada, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! previously aired on CTV Comedy Channel (formerly The Comedy Network) and later G4's Adult Digital Distraction block. [3] The series currently airs on the Canadian version of Adult Swim. [4]

Production

Halfway through the broadcasting of the first season, Adult Swim picked up Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! for another season ordering as many as 30 new episodes. [5] The second season began airing on November 18, 2007. Season one was released on DVD in April, 2008. The third season began on July 27, 2008, and ended on September 28, 2008. Eric posted a MySpace bulletin Oct 1, 2008, announcing that as a "holiday surprise" season four would be airing in January 2009. The show was later renewed for a fifth season. [6]

Speaking with Vanity Fair in July 2009, Wareheim said that season five (or "Season Cinco") would represent "a very dark side of the Awesome Show series. I think people are going to be very scared and very disturbed by it." [7] He also noted that the pair draw equal humor from the awkwardness of The Office as they do from the awkwardness of David Lynch's films. [7] The duo went on to state that they had begun an unconscious tradition by starting the first episode of seasons two, three, and four each with fecal-related fake commercials; they plan to "outdo" themselves on season five with a "diarrhea disease"-based commercial. [7] The fifth season premiered on February 28, 2010. The series finale aired on May 2, 2010. On May 16, 2010, the spin-off Check it Out! premiered. [8]

Tim and Eric acquired funding to shoot and air a one-hour special that aired on December 5, 2010, called The Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job Chrimbus Special. Simultaneous to this announcement, the duo also released a list of dates and cities for their upcoming 2010 tour. Tim and Eric also announced plans for a movie, entitled Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie ; in the film, released online and on pay-per-view on January 27, 2012, the pair try to revitalize a run-down mall in order to pay a billion-dollar debt. [9]

The duo's Abso Lutely Productions signoff bumper features a video clip of Heidecker's father during a family vacation in 1991; when asked to sum the trip up in two words, he responded "Abso-lutely". The full clip can be found on their website, DVD, and also on YouTube. [10]

Music

The series' theme music was composed by Davin Wood, who had also composed the theme music for the earlier Tom Goes to the Mayor, and for related series Derek & Simon , American Misfits, Stupidface, and Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule . [11]

On May 6, 2008, Williams Street Records released Awesome Record, Great Songs! Volume One , a compilation of songs from the first two seasons, and some covers and remixes by other artists. Williams Street also released Uncle Muscles Presents Casey and His Brother in July of that year, an EP featuring 11 songs sung by Heidecker in character as Casey Tatum. [12]

Touring

One of Tim and Eric's first live performances incorporating characters from Awesome Show was Muscles for Bones, a spoof telethon seeking bones for Richard Dunn. [13] This was performed at Troubadour nightclub in West Hollywood, California. [14] Major portions of this live performance were incorporated into season 3, episode 8 "Muscles for Bones". [15] An extended version of this show can be found as an extra on the Season 3 DVD. The extended version features performances not seen on the original TV episode, from performers such as Pierre and Michael Q. Schmidt. Prior to the beginning of seasons two and three, Tim and Eric combined "Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!" Live in Vegas (2007). The second of these, listed as season 3 episode 0, shared their 2008 cross-country tour [16] [17] [18] [19] and was titled Awesome Tour Live 2008. [20]

Reception

Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job! has had a wide range of reviews with many differing in opinion. Columnist for The New York Times Dave Itzkoff writes, "'Awesome Show' revels in an aesthetic of awkwardness." And also adds, "To populate their twisted universe they frequently cast average-looking actors (and nonactors) recruited from Web sites like Craigslist, who bring an additional layer of deliberate amateurishness to their skits." [21]

James Norton from Flak Magazine says, "If Adult Swim is the bleeding edge of TV comedy, Tim and Eric's Awesome Show, Great Job![ sic ] is the bleeding edge of the bleeding edge."

He adds, "The program has been much hated-upon by the Adult Swim fan base ... But the program also represents a foray into one of the most dangerous and exciting realms of the comedy world: sheer individualistic creativity." [22]

A reappraisal of the show in a 2020 New York Times column dubbed the show "sketch comedy at its most abrasive, bizarre and, for some reason, endearing." [23]

Spin-offs

While doing press for the first season of the program, Heidecker and Wareheim told an interviewer that they had aspirations to create a spinoff featuring Awesome Show regular Richard Dunn: "It's just him interviewing people like The Charlie Rose Show . We would love to produce that. No one would ever watch it." [24]

Using characters and skits from Awesome Show, Heidecker and Wareheim (via their Abso Lutely production company) created an online-only show called Tim and Eric Nite Live! , originally broadcast in aired on November 18, 2007 on the Adult Swim. [25]

In July 2008, the New York Times reported that an Awesome Show spin-off, Check It Out!, with Steve Brule , would air on Adult Swim beginning sometime in 2009. [26] The show parodies local newscasts, and as Heidecker briefly described it: "It's like his half-hour to go around town and interview the local beer-maker or whatever." [27] The show will have an episode run time of approximately 11 minutes, and it will feature John C. Reilly reprising his role as Dr. Steve Brule. According to Heidecker, Reilly had the original idea of giving the Dr. Steve character an entire show. [7] Vanity Fair reported that the program would begin airing on August 23, 2009; [7] however, the program did not air on that date, and LA Weekly reported in September 2009 that Check It Out! was "forthcoming." [28] The first episode aired May 16, 2010, [29] and the last on June 20, 2010, with a total of six episodes. The show returned with six more episodes, the first airing March 18, 2012, and the last on April 12, 2012. The show has managed two more seasons also consisting of six episodes, which aired in 2014 and 2016.

In the same July 2008 New York Times article, it was reported that the duo was in the process of developing a surreal game show series starring Neil Hamburger, titled The New Big Ball with Neil Hamburger. [26] [30] Wareheim described it as a mix between "bizarre Japanese game shows and The Price Is Right ." [26] In late July 2009, Neil Hamburger posted a blog on Myspace stating that a pilot had been filmed, but that Adult Swim was not satisfied and had "pulled the plug on the project." [31] As of November 8, 2013, the pilot has been uploaded to the official Adult Swim website. [32]

Home media

All five seasons and the Chrimbus Special have been released on DVD in Region 1 and 4 with distribution for the latter being handled by Madman Entertainment. The Chrimbus Special was released as a standalone DVD, and like seasons four and five, have become a rarity due to them no longer being in print. Only the first and second seasons have been released on DVD in Region 2.

DVDOriginal year of broadcastRegion 1 release dateRegion 2 release dateRegion 4 release date
Season 12007April 22, 2008April 27, 2009June 11, 2008
Season 22007–08February 10, 2009August 2, 2010June 24, 2009
Season 32008August 4, 2009December 2, 2009
Season 42009September 14, 2010December 1, 2010
Season 52010May 17, 2011November 28, 2012
Chrimbus Special2010December 15, 2010 (Out of Print)

The series is also available on HBO Max since September 1, 2020. [33]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Hamburger</span> Standup comedian character

Neil Hamburger is a standup comedian and singer character created and portrayed by American entertainer Gregg Turkington. Distinguished for his misanthropic jokes and anti-comedy style, Turkington has released a number of albums as Hamburger and has appeared as the character in various films, television shows, and other media. In 2015, the act inspired the feature-length film Entertainment, which stars Turkington as a "variant" of the character.

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

Tom Goes to the Mayor is an American adult animated series 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">Tim & Eric</span> American comedy duo

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Liebe Hart</span> American entertainer

David Nkrumah Liebe Unger Hart, also credited as D. L. Hart, is an American outsider artist, musician, painter, puppeteer and actor. He is best known for his appearances on Adult Swim's Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, performing bizarre puppetry and singing in a variety of voice characterizations. He is also known in the Los Angeles area for his role as a puppeteer on The Junior Christian Science Bible Lesson Program, a local public-access television cable TV program, and for performing with his puppet "Doug the Dog" just outside the Hollywood Bowl and Los Angeles Music Center after shows, where he is known to many concert goers simply as the "puppet man". He has also been known at times as David Hart, David Lieber Mintz, David Unger Hart, David King Liebe Hart and DL Hart.

<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.

Richard Dunn was an American character actor popularized by Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim. Dunn was best known to audiences for his appearances on Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, a sketch comedy television series.

<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 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 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.

<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.

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>All Gas No Brakes</i> YouTube channel

All Gas No Brakes is an American YouTube channel originally created and previously hosted by independent journalist Andrew Callaghan, based on the book of the same name by Callaghan. The channel has 1.7 million subscribers and over 71 million views as of March 2021. The channel features Callaghan traveling around the United States conducting vox pop interviews at various events, such as conventions and music festivals. The interviews are noted for their surreal and humorous viewpoints on serious topics. Nic Mosher and Evan Gilbert-Katz worked on the channel providing camera, audio, editing, and production management. The show ran from September 9, 2019 to November 12, 2020.

<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. Turner Newsroom Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Fact Sheet
  2. Berkowitz, Joe (March 12, 2015). "How The Guy Who Helped Define Tim & Eric's Editing Style Has Edited His Career Ever Since". Fast Company .
  3. "G4 Launches ADd - Adult Digital Distraction". June 8, 2009.
  4. "TELETOON Canada Inc. Announces Cartoon Network and Adult Swim Launch Schedules". Newswire. June 21, 2012.
  5. "SuicideGirls Interview with Tim and Eric" . Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  6. "Adult Swim Schedule" . Retrieved May 22, 2008.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Vanity Fair article: "Q&A: Tim and Eric on Child Abuse, Diarrhea, and Yerba-Mate Tea Archived 2010-03-28 at the Wayback Machine ".
  8. "On Air Schedule". Adult Swim. Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
  9. "Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (2012)". IMDB.com. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  10. "On Youtube: The inspiration for the name of Abso Lutely productions". YouTube. July 8, 2006. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2009.
  11. "Davin Wood". mcrow.net. Archived from the original on September 4, 2012. Retrieved June 15, 2010.
  12. "Uncle Muscles Presents Casey And His Brother – Casey And His Brother EP". Discogs. Discogs. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  13. "Tim and Eric". Tim and Eric. Archived from the original on June 4, 2009. Retrieved February 23, 2009.
  14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 10, 2008. Retrieved February 19, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. ""Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!" Muscles for Bones (2008)". Imdb.com. September 14, 2008. Retrieved February 23, 2009.
  16. Thompson, Jason (April 23, 2008). "A Chat with Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, interview, "Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!"". Bullz-eye.com. Retrieved February 23, 2009.
  17. Willamette Week (March 7, 2007). "WWire | Tim & Eric Awesome Tour @ Someday Lounge, 3/4". Wweek.com. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2009.
  18. "Adult Swim's Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Hits the Road: Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Tour 2008 Kicks Off in Boston on April 21". Billboardpublicitywire.com. Archived from the original on March 2, 2009. Retrieved February 23, 2009.
  19. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 16, 2009. Retrieved October 1, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  20. ""Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!" Awesome Tour Live 2008 (2008)". Imdb.com. May 6, 2008. Retrieved February 23, 2009.
  21. Itzkoff, Dave (July 27, 2008). "The Bizarre Brains of Nightmare TV". The New York Times. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
  22. Norton, James. "Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Cartoon Network Sundays 11:45 p.m. / 10:45 p.m. Central". Flak Magazine. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
  23. Collins, Sean T. (June 26, 2020). "Comfort Viewing: 3 Reasons I Love 'Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!'". The New York Times. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  24. Furlinator, The (February 8, 2007). "Adult Swim's Tim and Eric". Cracked.com. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
  25. "Tim and Eric Nite Live". TV.com. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  26. 1 2 3 New York Times article: "The Bizarre Brains of Nightmare TV".
  27. Philip Brown (August 30, 2008). "Twisted minds spawn an Awesome Show". The Star. Toronto. Retrieved October 26, 2008.
  28. LA Weekly article: Are Tim and Eric Getting Political? Archived 2010-08-18 at the Wayback Machine ".
  29. Teaser posted by Eric Wareheim. video:"
  30. Hardford Advocate article: "Hamburger Helper: America's 'worst' comedian performs in New Haven and then in Northampton". Archived December 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  31. MySpace blog post by Neil Hamburger: "The New Big Ball Archived 2009-02-07 at the Wayback Machine ".
  32. "Watch the New Big Ball Original Web Series from Adult Swim". Archived from the original on November 14, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  33. "HBO Max in September: Everything coming and going". August 21, 2020.