Season Two, Episode Eight is a loving tribute to all of Cinco’s tacky glory. A companion piece to the much darker Season Cinco episode “Greene Machine,” “Innernette” combines everything we love about the Cinco Corporation: pointlessness, inelegance, and greed.
Theme:
Capitalism, like Fatherhood, has long been a staple of Awesome Show’s irreverent humor. “Innernette” embraces the ultimate capitalist dream: the infomercial. Tim and Eric have played with the fever dream format of shorter commercials, but the infomercial is its own genre entirely. Full of fake problems, little skits, and endless awkward product pitches, which are then, in turn, interrupted by shorter commercial blocks, the infomercial is so like an episode of Awesome Show, crammed with nonsequiturs, set in a strange, altered reality, a never solved puzzle box of whimsy and weirdness. “Innernette” is a perverse deconstruction of all of the much-hated infomercial staples, and the result is one of seamless strangeness.
Hi-Lights:
Pussy Doodles (Part 1)
David Cross stars as the timid artist behind “pussy doodles,” a harness you can strap to your cat to enable it to create works of art. The commercial leans into all of the tropes of local commercials: awkward acting, nonsensical effects, and punishing repetition. The fact that David Cross’s character looks visibly frightened throughout the entire sketch only adds to the queasy, homemade joy.
Innernette (Part 2)
Tim and Eric are our spray-tanned hosts, guiding us through the amazing world of Cinco’s Innernette. Here, we explore the shopping zone as Eric helps Tim pick out a pair of pleated, parachute pants. We also learn about the nearly endless music library of “over 100 songs,” enough to satisfy even Eric’s passion for country music. The stilted insincerity of Tim and Eric as hosts, along with the utter uselessness of the product, make this segment a classic.
Channel 5 Dance Party
This one should go down in history. This blurrily lit dance party features Pierre as the enthusiastic host. We get to see some of the elderly members of Awesome Show’s cast behaving badly--Season Two, Episode Three winner Palmer “I Sit on You” Scott is there, along with Anette Salsman and Judith Goldstein. Joseph Satriano makes an appearance only for Pierre to comment, “I wonder if that man has any children.” As a bonus, Ben Hur (who will go one to have a starring role in “Beefhouse Boys”) makes his first appearance as an unsettling voyeur, and Deborah Tatum (seen earlier as Casey’s mom in “A Song for Mommy”) appears to proclaim, “All I wanna do is dance and fuck.” This is all capped off with the “Sad Old Man Dance.” If there is happiness to be had on earth, it’s in this sketch.
Anatomy of an Episode:
Jeff Goldbluman Group
Jeff Golblum returns to Awesome Show to beg us as seductively as humanly possible to watch his latest project, The Jeff Goldbluman Group.
Innernette (Part 1)
Tim and Eric greet us from what appears to be the set of some infernal remake of Golden Girls to show us the Cinco Innernette CD ROM.
Uncle Muscles Hour: A Song for Mommy
This one veers into the unsettling in its depiction of cruelty to a child. As Casey sings a forlorn song about his vanished mother, we are subjected to home movies showing Deborah Tatum trashing a young Casey’s birthday party. The mood is only lightened by Casey’s signature moment of panic-driven nausea and Eric’s black-leotard clad interpretative dance.
Pussy Doodles (Part 1)
See Hi-Lights. David Cross wants to make your cat an artist.
Living with Dr. Brule
Dr. Brule has a message for all lonely hearts: there are ways to beat the depression and ennui of isolation.
Innernette (Part 2)
See Hi-Lights. The boys shop for pants and discuss divergent musical tastes.
Jeff Goldbluman Group Interlude: Funk Barn
This segues to a performance of the Jeff Goldbluman Group that will leave you both scared and aroused--thanks, Cinco!
Pussy Doodles (Part 2)
We get a behind the scenes peek at the creative team who brought you the Pussy Doodles commercial. Starring Bob Odenkirk as a director on a power trip, this sequel to Pussy Doodles part 1 earns David Cross the coveted “Great Job!” for his on-set melt-down.
A Message from David Liebe Hart
David Liebe Hart shares some thoughts on the usefulness of the internet (or innernette).
Channel 5 Dance Party
See Hi-Lights. Pierre hosts the best party you will never be invited to.
Innernette (Part 3)
The boys show off the ultra-realistic chat feature on the Innernette.
Winner:
Honestly, this episode was among the hardest to call. Tim and Eric both shoulder the weight as listless hosts for this infomercial. However, due to his glib awkwardness, and infomercial ready insincere smile, (along with a soul-bearing portrayal as Casey in “Song for Mommy”), I’m giving Episode Eight to Tim. There may be no more sunsets, Tim, but at least we have you, sweetheart.
Pennie Sublime