“Human Giant” premieres on MTV
A few weeks back Fuse, a network most people don’t know exists, started airing its brand new, cutting edge sketch show based on a New York sketch group. The show (and the group) is called The Whitest Kids U Know (yes “Uâ€). I watched two episodes. It was moderately funny, but too often fell apart mid-sketch (like most sketch shows). It also seemed like the cast members only knew how to write scenes that involved yelling. For me, this was detrimental to the funny, but I’m no comedy writer. What the hell do I know anyway.
Last Thursday MTV, a network most people know exists (though few people admit to actually watching), started airing its brand new, cutting edge sketch show based on a New York sketch group*. The show (and the group) is called Human Giant. After months of being little more than a VH-1 drop-line, MTV finally released the series for the world to behold. Having only seen one episode I have to say, it’s pretty damn funny. It seems to succeed where TWKUK fails because it understands that most people, myself included, are completely impatient and barely able to focus our attention at a whole music video (hence MTV’s demusicifying of its schedule). In other words, the Human Giant sketches are incredibly short.
The first episode was comprised largely of bits the three had produced over the past couple years (Shutterbugs, Sh!ttiet Mix Tape), with some new stuff mixed in as well (I’m for anyone giving work to the lovely Linda Cardellini — especially when she’s pushing heavy furniture and appliances on small children). New or old, the show works.
But is that enough.
Obviously the answer is no. The problem is Human Giant is being show Thursdays at 10:30pm on MTV following something called Adventures In Hollyhood. Clearly the network is trying to rebrand itself (as it has every three years since the mid-90s), but one unique show in an otherwise completely indistinguishable line-up will not attract viewers the way it might have in years past. This isn’t 1993, and Human Giant isn’t Beavis and Butthead.
We’ll see if it makes a dent.
*Really, the group wasn’t called Human Giant before the show, but was instead just called Aziz Ansari, Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer are making videos and putting them on the internet, but I had this whole parity thing going and I didn’t want it to get broken up.
April 10th, 2007 at 2:49 am
I just watched “Shittiest Mix Tape” and laughed so hard, it hurt my insides. Seriously, that easily fits into my top 10 hardest laughs. I’m pretty sure I woke up my roommate upstairs.