- Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
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Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! 
Title cardFormat Surreal, sketch comedy Created by Tim Heidecker
Eric WareheimStarring Tim Heidecker
Eric WareheimComposer(s) Davin Wood Country of origin United States No. of seasons 5 No. of episodes 50 (and 1 special) (List of episodes) Production Executive producer(s) Tim Heidecker
Eric Wareheim
Jonathan Krisel (Co-executive, seasons 2-5)Producer(s) Jon Mugar (seasons 2-5; associate producer, season 1)
Dave Kneeborne (season 2; supervising, seasons 3-5)
Jed Alarcon (supervising, seasons 1-2)
Ben Berman (associate, season 1)Running time 11 minutes Production company(s) Abso Lutely Productions
Williams StreetBroadcast Original channel Adult Swim Picture format 4:3 SDTV (2007-2009)
16:9 HDTV (2010)Original run February 11, 2007 – May 2, 2010 Chronology Preceded by Tom Goes to the Mayor Followed by Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule External links Website Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! is an American sketch comedy television series, created by and starring Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, which premiered February 11, 2007 on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim comedy block[1] and ran until May 2010. The program features surrealistic and often satirical humor (at points anti-humor), public-access television-style musical acts, bizarre faux-commercials, and editing and special effects chosen to make the show appear camp.
The program has featured a wide range of actors, spanning from big name stars such as Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly and Zach Galifianakis, to alternative comedians like Neil Hamburger, to television actors like Alan Thicke, celebrity look-alikes and impressionists.
The creators of the show have described Awesome Show as "the nightmare version of television."[2]
Contents
Overview
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 features a variety of celebrity cameos from actors, comedians, and musicians including Fred Armisen, Maria Bamford, Karen Black, Michael Ian Black, Abbey Brooks, LeVar Burton, Michael Cera, Peter Cetera, David Cross, Elisha Cuthbert, Ted Danson, Patrick Duffy, Will Ferrell, Flight of the Conchords, Will Forte, Zach Galifianakis, Jeff Goldblum, Josh Groban, Michael Gross, Bill Hader, Neil Hamburger, David Liebe Hart, Jonah Hill, Tom Kenny, The Lonely Island, Marilyn Manson, Richard Marx, John Mayer, Jack McBrayer, A.D. Miles, Dave Navarro, Bob Odenkirk, Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn, John C. Reilly, Daphne Rosen, Paul Rudd, Steve R. Schirripa, Michael Q. Schmidt, Palmer Scott, Bret McKenzie, Jemaine Clement, The Shins, Ben Stiller, Peter Stormare, Danny Trejo, Fred Willard, Rainn Wilson, Tommy Wiseau, "Weird Al" Yankovic, and Tami Erin.
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.[3]
Halfway through the broadcasting of the first season, Cartoon Network picked up Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! for another season ordering as many as 30 new episodes.[4] 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.[5]
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.[6] This was performed at Troubadour nightclub in West Hollywood, California.[7] Major portions of this live performance were incorporated into season three, episode 8 "Muscles for Bones".[8] 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[9][10][11][12] and was titled Awesome Tour Live 2008.[13]
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."[14] 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.[14] 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.[14] 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.[15]
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 have also announced plans for a movie, entitled Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie. The plot has been said to focus on the pair finding themselves a billion dollars in debt, but little more has yet been revealed. Following the release of the movie, they may make additional seasons of Awesome Show.[16]
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 timanderic.com DVD and also on YouTube.[17]
Featured sketches and recurring characters
Reception
The show has developed a large cult following, including a number of comedians and celebrities; many of whom have appeared on the program. The show continues to polarize audiences; some call it 'crude and inane randomness', while others consider it to be satirical brilliance.
Episodes
Main article: List of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! episodesAwesome Record, Great Songs!
On May 6, 2008, William Street Records released Awesome Record, Great Songs!, a compilation of songs from the first two seasons.
Spin-offs
See also: Check It Out! with Dr. Steve BruleWhile 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."[18]
Using characters and skits from Awesome Show, Heidecker and Wareheim (via their Absolutely production company) created an online-only show called Tim and Eric Nite Live!, originally broadcast on the website SuperDeluxe.
Advertisement for the scrapped spin-off series The New Big Ball with Neil Hamburger
In July 2008, the New York Times reported that an Awesome Show spin-off, Check It Out!, with Steve Brule, would air on Cartoon Network beginning sometime in 2009.[2] 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."[19] 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.[14] Vanity Fair reported that the program would begin airing on August 23, 2009;[14] however, the program did not air on that date, and LA Weekly reported in September 2009 that Check It Out! was "forthcoming."[20] The first episode aired May 16, 2010[21] and the last on June 20, 2010, with a total of six episodes.
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.[2][22] Wareheim described it as a mix between "bizarre Japanese game shows and The Price Is Right."[2] 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."[23]
DVD releases
All five seasons and the Chrimbus Special have been released on DVD.
DVD Release date Discs Episodes Season 1 (2007) April 22, 2008 1 10 Season 2 (2007-08) February 10, 2009 1 10 Season 3 (2008) August 4, 2009 1 10 Season 4 (2009) September 14, 2010 1 10 Season 5 (Uncensored) (2010) May 17, 2011 1 10 Chrimbus Special (2010) December 15, 2010 1 1 References
- ^ Turner Newsroom Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Fact Sheet
- ^ a b c d New York Times article: "The Bizarre Brains of Nightmare TV".
- ^ "Davin Wood". mcrow.net. http://www.mcrow.net/Artists.htm. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
- ^ "SuicideGirls Interview with Tim and Eric". http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Tim%20and%20Eric/. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
- ^ "Adult Swim Schedule". http://www.adultswim.com/schedule/index.html. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
- ^ "Tim and Eric". Tim and Eric. http://www.timanderic.com/live.html. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
- ^ http://www.timanderic.com/images/mfb_flyer.jpg
- ^ ""Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!" Muscles for Bones (2008)". Imdb.com. 2008-09-14. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1293050. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
- ^ Thompson, Jason (2008-04-23). "A Chat with Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, interview, "Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!"". Bullz-eye.com. http://www.bullz-eye.com/television/interviews/2008/tim_and_eric.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
- ^ Willamette Week (2007-03-07). "WWire | Tim & Eric Awesome Tour @ Someday Lounge, 3/4". Wweek.com. http://blogs.wweek.com/news/2007/03/07/tim-eric-awesome-tour-someday-lounge-34/. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
- ^ "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. http://billboardpublicitywire.com/releases/april/eric_awesome/prweb750584.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
- ^ http://www.timanderic.com/images/awsometourflyer08.jpg
- ^ ""Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!" Awesome Tour Live 2008 (2008)". Imdb.com. 2008-05-06. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1231200. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
- ^ a b c d e Vanity Fair article: "Q&A: Tim and Eric on Child Abuse, Diarrhea, and Yerba-Mate Tea".
- ^ "On Air Schedule". Adult Swim. http://www.adultswim.com/schedule/onair.html. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
- ^ Tim and Eric Celebrate Chrimbus and Talk Tour, 'SNL' and a Possible Season 6
- ^ "On Youtube: The inspiration for the name 0f Abso Lutely productions". YouTube. 2006-07-08. http://youtube.com/watch?v=iWorSepWyJQ. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
- ^ Furlinator, The. "Adult Swim's Tim and Eric". Cracked.com. http://www.cracked.com/article_15327_adult-swims-tim-eric.html. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
- ^ Philip Brown (August 30, 2008). "Twisted minds spawn an Awesome Show". The Star (Toronto). http://www.thestar.com/article/487266. Retrieved October 26, 2008.
- ^ LA Weekly article: Are Tim and Eric Getting Political?".
- ^ Teaser posted by Eric Wareheim. video:[1]"
- ^ Hardford Advocate article: "Hamburger Helper: America's 'worst' comedian performs in New Haven and then in Northampton[dead link]".
- ^ MySpace blog post by Neil Hamburger: "The New Big Ball".
24. Chrimbus Special, and 2010 tour dates http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPWZuIAED3U
External links
- Official website
- Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! at the Internet Movie Database
- Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! at TV.com
- Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! at on Adultswim.com (UK)
- Tim and Eric.com
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Tim Heidecker · Eric Wareheim Cast John C. Reilly · Bob Odenkirk · Richard Dunn · James Quall · David Liebe Hart · Michael Q. Schmidt · Palmer ScottDetails Related Tom Goes to the Mayor (episodes) · Tim and Eric Nite Live! · Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule · Funny or Die Presents · Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie
Categories:- 2007 American television series debuts
- 2010 American television series endings
- 2000s American television series
- Adult Swim original programs
- American sketch comedy television shows
- English-language television series
- 2010s American television series
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