Instant Entertainment: Cringe Humor Edition
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<p>Both of this week's entries are modern comedies which rely on "cringe humor." Typically in this type of comedy, characters are propelled into awkward and embarrassing situations, and the camera refuses to turn away as things get worse and worse for them. The genre has slowly become one of the dominant strains of comedy over the last two decades, popularized in the work of comedians including Ricky Gervais, Larry David, and Sacha Baron Cohen, and Steve Coogan. And the British series <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peep_Show_%28TV_series%29"><em>Peep Show</em></a> falls comfortably into this uncomfortable genre.</p><p><em>Peep Show</em> follows the everyday misadventures of the El Dude Brothers, roommates Mark and Jeremy, played by British sketch comics David Mitchell and Robert Webb. Mark is obsessed with military history, and calling him socially inept would be kind; Jeremy is a self-proclaimed "work-shy freeloader" musician with no discernible musical talent. The stock qualities of the characters become increasingly strange and unique as the show progresses; bizarre obsessions emerge through even more bizarre circumstances in seven six-episode seasons. And there's plenty of room for a fantastic ensemble, including the incredible Super Hans, who is like a crack-addicted Kramer.</p><p>While the show could be called a sitcom, it has some decidedly unique visual tricks that set it apart: most importantly, the entire show is filmed from point-of-view camera angles, and filled with painfully honest inner monologues from the two leads. That means that most episodes are filled with claustrophobic (and often unflattering) close-ups along with many hilarious, tortured reaction shots.</p> <p>Moreover, there is a deeper question in the background of all the show's painful laughs, that the AV Club succinctly <a href="http://www.avclub.com/articles/peep-show,39917/">summarized</a>: "It's about how men in the 21st century have a vague idea of what it means to be a man but no job how to go about it." You can catch all seven seasons on Hulu <a href="http://www.hulu.com/peep-show">here</a>, and Netflix <a href="http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Peep_Show_Series_1/70012418?trkid=2361637#height1531">here</a> (though just season one).</p>
While FX's constantly confounding and hilarious comedy Louie also relies on a lot of cringe humor, it is a much more elusive show to pin down. It may be the only comedy, maybe the only show on TV right now, that is truly doing something original with the TV format. And it may be the only live-action comedy which is the unadulterated, warts-and-all vision of its brilliant creator.FX made a deal with comedian's comedian Louis C.K., a veteran comic whose resume includes everything from writing Pootie Tang to a failed HBO show updating The Honeymooners, to write, direct, star and edit his own "sitcom." But it would almost be insulting to throw that label onto Louie: every episode is more like a semi-related collection of short films, with varying comedic tones, along with bits of Louie's stand-up. There are goofy moments when the show reminds us of Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (But Were Afraid To Ask), and more somber moments when it feels like an intimate peek at a divorced father's life.The live-action vignettes can run the gamut from interactions with a malevolent, cartoonish doctor (played by a manic Ricky Gervais), to pained conversations about race, religion and bananas. And the show is not interested in traditional ideas of continuity: in one episode, his mother could be depicted as a monstrous, self-centered shrew, and in another she is idealized as the only woman who ever understood him.Not every joke lands perfectly, but you never know what is going to happen next on the show, and it is thrilling viewing as a result. This is the man who repeatedly asked Donald Rumsfeld if he was really a lizard alien, after all. You can now watch the entire 13-episode first season of the show on Netflix; we particularly recommend the episodes "God," "Bully," "Dr. Ben/Nick," and "So Old/Playdate."
<p>According to the <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/queuenoodle">Queue Noodle</a>, which tells us what's leaving Netflix Instant soon, this Saturday be prepared to say goodbye to the Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor comedy <a href="http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Stir_Crazy/1001192"><em>Stir Crazy</em></a>, along with <em>The Dutchess</em>. And cancel all plans for tonight, because it'll be your last shot to see <em>St. Elmo's Fire</em>!</p>