With Season Two, Episode Seven, “Robin,” Tim and Eric lovingly lampoon Robin Williams years before his tragic death. Along with a truly silly Cinco product and Richard Dunn in his strangest role yet, “Robin” is one of Awesome Show’s sweeter entries.
Theme:
Season Two is full of break-neck emotional turns: compassionate to creepy, nihilistic to sentimental, often within the same sketch. The main through-line of “Robin” centers around a tale of Joycean proportions. Referencing Leopold Bloom’s desperate bid for reconciliation in Ulysses, Eric gifts Tim with his own “Robin Williams” as a surrogate acting partner. When Robin’s manic energy proves too much for Tim, much like the famed Molly Bloom, he makes a move toward redeeming his relationship with Eric. Friendship, in the world of Awesome Show, has usually been a thing of unneeding conflict, an earthbound Valhalla (this will be literalized by the end of the season), but in “Robin,” things take a turn for the sanguine. Just as Molly Bloom explodes into an orgasmic cry of “yes yes yes,” so too, does Tim and Eric’s ecstatic audience celebrate their return to normalcy, bringing the episode to an uncharacteristically gentle climax.
Hi-Lights:
Dress to Impress 2.0
Awesome Show will always find the pleasure in old technology. Here, “Dress to Impress” plays out like an early 2000’s computer game. Our job, as players, is ostensibly to choose a “blouse, head accessory, slacks” as well as a beautification method for our exuberantly nude model. Once an appropriately hideous outfit has been constructed, our model declares in a little girl’s voice, “I’m dressed for success.”
Cinco Library: Encyclopedia of Numbers
Rainn Wilson takes the reins from Bob Odenkirk to pitch us some of the worst ideas for books ever known to man. The Cinco Encyclopedia of Numbers features lists of numbers in numerical and alphabetical order as well as “numbers lost to time” and intriguingly, “numbers for men.” Wilson’s deadpan plea for someone, anyone, to “buy {his} books,” completes the scene’s wholehearted strangeness.
Tim and Eric Hold Auditions for Their New Film “Demons”
Fans of the Progressive Commercials will recognize Flo--I mean, Stephanie Courtney-- as the casting director. It’s almost impossible to separate Courtney from her perky, insurance obsessed alter ego, but here, she’s the straight man to Tim and Eric’s nonsense. When one actor mispronounces his own last name, the boys descend into a wild giggle-fit that ultimately destroys part of the set. Reminiscent of the sublime madness of “Oooh Mama,” this sketch pushes hysteria to its furthest limits and takes the viewer along for the ride.
Anatomy of an Episode:
Dress to Impress 2.0
See Hi-Lights. Our nude hero waits to be arrayed in a variety of ridiculous clothes.
Robin (Part 1)
Eric gifts Tim with his very own “Robin.”
Cinco Library: Encyclopedia of Numbers
See Hi-Lights. Rainn Wilson tells us about his imminently useless Encyclopedia of Numbers.
Dunngeon with Richard Dunn (Part 1)
Richard Dunn is fearless in a fishnet shirt. Hosting a rock-n-roll show from what appears to be his basement, Dunn doesn’t seem to know who any of his guests are (or how to pronounce their names).
Robin (Part 2)
Eric reveals he has planned a show for Tim and his spastic Robin.
Tim and Eric Hold Auditions for Their New Film “Demons”
See Hi-Lights. Tim and Eric get an incurable case of the giggles.
Paul Willeaux Interlude
My favorite guy, Paul Willeaux of Lazy Horse Mattress fame, pops up to remind us that he is, indeed, a demon.
Dunngeon with Richard Dunn (Part 2)
Richard Dunn must contend with the Teutonic hatred of “Zwei Dunkel Jungen.”
Grill Interlude
An unseen cook serves up our last segment of the episode...
Robin (Part 3)
Tim realizes that he doesn’t need Robin and he and Eric perform a rousing comedy show to an 80’s style power ballad. The scene is gloriously heightened by cut-away shots of one man in the audience who seems more disturbed than delighted by Tim and Eric’s antics.
Winner:
Richard Dunn takes this one home. Dunn is always a scene-stealer, but here, he really shines as the clueless host of Dunngeon. From his daring fashion to his oblivious calm, Dunn is the hero we need. Sorry, Zwei Dunkel Jungen, it looks like your nemesis has triumphed.
Pennie Sublime