TVSquad

(S02E07) You know, it's like sitting down for chocolate ice cream and getting strawberry ice cream instead. Sure, you like strawberry ice cream just fine, and heck, it's better than no ice cream at all, but you were still expecting chocolate.

Last night Wonder Showzen did what I could only describe as "pulling a Terrance and Phillip" and dedicated an entire episode to a show within a show. None of our usual puppet pals were around for this episode, instead we got to watch a half hour of Horse Apples, the Hee-Haw spoof which we first saw in the episode titled Knowledge. Now, if you go to the official MTV2 site for the show, they have the episode listed as "Mathematics," which as far as I can tell is actually the season finale, set to air next week. I have no idea what the title of this "not really an episode" episode is supposed to be, but if anyone knows for sure, inform me in the comments.

Anyway, the episode was scattershot at best. At times it seemed they had stretched the concept of all Southerners being incestuous, wife-beating, Jesus-huggin' troglodytes to its comedic limit, but then there would be moments that were actually more clever than they seemed. Those moments mostly came from comedians David Cross and Zach Galfianakis, who at one point do a hilarious "Who's On First?" style routine that almost made up for some of the lackluster gags which led up to it. I also loved the part where one of the rednecks tells a racist joke about mixing a black man with a white woman to get a "black widow." When asked to clarify, he explains that he killed the white woman and gave the black man a sex change. Then he pauses for a moment and admits he doesn't always think things through completely.

So yeah, not at all the best episode of the season, but it did leave me with an odd kind of respect for the creators, who are obviously following their muse and making the show they want to make. I can't really fault them for that, as I've always said the last thing any creative person should do is give the audience what it wants. When you start trying to follow the whim of your audience, that's when you lose your creative edge. In the case of Wonder Showzen, I think that's especially true. You come to the show, the show doesn't come to you.

Best line: "'American pride' ain't just a word I shaved into my sister's back."