We’ve made it to Season Two, and I hate to do it, but I have to start things out on a somber note. This episode is dedicated to the memory of Casey Tatum, the 17-year-old star of “Uncle Muscles’ Hour.” There may be winners and losers in this strange, cruel world of ours, but there will never be another one like you, Casey.
Themes:
In Season One, Episode Two, we discussed the intertwined themes of friendship and loss. In the world of Awesome Show, intimacy is always already an imperiled thing, something so destabilized already that the slightest obstacle or interference can derail it. Here, through the two major narratives in the episode: Casey’s death and Eric’s infatuation with the Rasta-inspired interloper Raz, we see the interplay between love and destruction.
Season One introduced this dichotomy between love and loss, and “Vacation,” leans into it. For an episodic sketch show, there is entirely too much time devoted to the grief Uncle Muscles feels for Casey’s loss. Awesome Show forces the viewer to plumb the abject horror of grief alongside the bracingly absurd, pairing Uncle Muscle’s mournful delivery with a video of one of Casey’s strangest songs, “Hamburgers and Hotdogs Too.” If you can sustain an attitude of mourning while watching Casey’s brother thrust his crotch at you (while wearing an ill-fitting hamburger costume, no less), then the show’s madness has finally broken you. Similarly, this murky line between grief and hysterics is poked, proded, and thoroughly undone in the “Raz” segments of the show. Here, rejection, jealousy, and rivalry are all explored through a pair of truly, exuberantly terrible stongs. This tension between joy and despair will continue to be an fascination of Awesome Show, and with each iteration, the results will be more and more surreal, strange, and unsettling.
Hi-Lights:
Host Segment: Raz (Part 1)
As Themes suggested, this segment deals with the fraught friendship between hosts Tim and Eric. Eric, having returned from vacation, is excited to share his new best friend with an unenthusiastic Tim. Eric communicates his new found bliss through a song he and Raz, his new friend, produced. From the kitschy editing to the awkward dancing, to the suburban-dad-does-the-islands vibe of the whole piece, it's definitely one of the episode’s most rewarding moments.
James Quall
I apologize if my somber tone earlier didn’t do justice to this momentous occasion. “Vacation” marks the first appearance of James Quall. Comedian and master of impersonation, Quall will go on to become a regular on the Awesome Show, and more importantly, will single-handedly increase the number of spaghetti and meatball references by more than 110%. Great job!
The Poop Tube
Bradley Michael Fartz might at first appear to be one of Tim and Eric’s laziest jokes, but B.M. Fartz and his Poop Tube push so far into the uncharted world of the disgusting and the awkward, you’ll find yourself wishing for more of the Fartz family. From the Giger-esque monstrosity that is the Poop Tube, to the weirdly insistent way Mr. Fatz keeps repeating, “My dad said I could sell the poop tube,” it’s easy to see why this sketch was awarded the coveted freeze frame/”Great job!”
Anatomy of an Episode:
Previously on Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!
The viewers are treated to a recap of the tragic Casey Tatum saga
Answers
The terrifying and the tragic intermingle in this Season Two opening. Casey and Steve Mahanahan, portrayed by action figures in a toy city, perish in a fiery van explosion. Richard Dunn and David Liebe Hart’s disembodied heads appear to welcome us into the insanity.
Host Segment: Raz (Part 1)
See Hi-Lights. Eric can’t wait to share the glories of his new friendship with Tim.
James Quall
See Hi-Lights. You will never forget James Quall’s rendition of “Billie Jean,” complete with new spaghetti-and-meatball themed lyrics.
The Poop Tube
See Hi-Lights. Enjoy learning to poop like a man.
Host Segment: Raz (Part 2)
Raz gifts Eric with a friendship razlet. Tim feels the pain of rejection.
Trick my Trick
Bob Odenkirk stars at the Great Gregory. He and his lovely assistant help us update tired old magic tricks with the power of awkward CGI. Oh, the wonders of the modern age...
Uncle Muscles Emergency Broadcast
See Themes. If you can commemorate Casey’s life with lyrics more touching than, “I like parties/I like fun/I want to live in a hamburger bun,” please don’t tell me. My heart can’t take it.
The Best of James Quall
Oh, the amount of “Quall” based puns in this sketch. Quall now, that’s not Quall... it’s thirty seconds truly worth of the Dad Joke Hall of Fame, the Valhalla of Comedy.
Host Segment: Raz (Part 3)
Tim seeks revenge on Eric by making his own friendship video. “Tony and Tim’s Totally Awesome Vacation” will never leave you once you hear it--nor will you be able to scrub the image of shirtless Tim and his badly photoshopped new buddy out of your mind...but why would you want to?
Winner:
After losing to Tim in Season One, Eric came back strong for Season Two. Eric settles the score in “Vacation,” starring in his own superior music video, dancing his heart out, and deadpanning a perfect solo in “Hamburgers and Hotdogs Too.” Go enjoy a virgin colada (no rum), Eric, but don’t get too comfortable, we still have a long way to ultimate victory.
Pennie Sublime