Jake Pauletto is a senior journalism and telecommunications news major and writes "Jake's Take" for the Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to Jake at jpauletto@bsu.edu.
Netflix continues its streak of reviving old shows with the release of “W/ Bob and David.” The creators of the 1990s sketch comedy series “Mr. Show with Bob and David” have teamed up again for this new miniseries. The show features Bob Odenkirk (“Breaking Bad,” “Better Call Saul”) and David Cross (“Arrested Development”) as the two main actors in the four episode series.
What’s unique about the show is how they use social and historical situations to make the sketches of an episode tie together. They use prerecorded video of sketches to help connect live sketches that have different characters played by the same actors. This helps to create a type of sketch comedy show that is different than many others.
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Both Cross and Odenkirk have experience reviving previous work when it comes to Netflix. In 2013, Cross acted in a new season of “Arrested Development” which was canceled by Fox in 2011. Likewise, Odenkirk played the character 'Saul Goodman' on “Breaking Bad” and continued to act that role in the spin-off “Better Call Saul.”
The script for “W/ Bob and David” is very well thought-out. The team of writers, headed by Cross and Odenkirk, worked on coming up with scripts for the sketches that would not only make people laugh but also connect them together. The way the sketches poke fun at social situations is the funniest part because they have truth behind them, which makes the show special.
For the new miniseries, they brought back many people from the original show, as well as some new faces. Fans of “Mr. Show” would be quick to recognize Jay Johnston, Jill Talley, Brian Posehn, Tom Kenney, as well as some others. There aren't many other supporting actors involved since the primary actors are able play multiple characters in a single sketch.
The main complaint I have is that a lot of the acting seems forced. However, the show certainly stands well without perfect performances. Sketch comedy shows often fall victim to less than great acting, but in this particular case, the hilariously well-written script is what steals the show.
The whole season is only four episodes and the fifth is offered to viewers as an hour-long documentary-style video of how the show was put together. For anyone who is a fan of David Cross or Bob Odenkirk, it is certainly worth a watch. It is also great as a quick show to binge watch in between longer-running series.
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