HBO Now and HBO Go have announced their streaming lineup for May, and although they’re apparently going to be showing some new movies (and that Game of Thrones show people keep talking about) there’s one really important piece of news: Mr. Show With Bob and David is finally coming to the streaming service. The sketch comedy show, which had a four-season run on HBO from 1995–1998, has long been the most glaring gap in HBO’s archives. Created by Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, Mr. Show had an immeasurable impact on comedy, despite low ratings at the time. (Judd Apatow, for instance, called its tapings “the most fertile comedic space I had ever seen.”) For a taste of what’s great about it, check out just one sketch, “The Great Philouza”:
It’s possible, however unlikely, to imagine another sketch show having the idea of setting Amadeus in the marching band era. And other shows occasionally went all out on production values (e.g., The State’s “Porcupine Racetrack”). But no other group of comedians would have conceived something as brilliant and bizarre as the room full of baby drummers, to say nothing of topping the gag with Jay Johnston as the cadaverous specter of mediocrity. (Odenkirk and Cross recently reunited for Netflix’s With Bob and David, but the show never rose to quite the same level.) It’s been wonderful to see Bob Odenkirk transform into a dramatic actor through his phenomenally understated and moving turn on Better Call Saul (a role with its own Mr. Show roots), but how can anyone take the measure of his career without easy access to his performance in full lunatic mode as worldwide billiards champion Van Hammersly?
And they say the golden age of television began with The Sopranos. The big question is why such a landmark series hasn’t been on HBO’s streaming services all along. In a 2013 Reddit AMA, Odenkirk, Cross, and co-star Brian Posehn all offered different explanations:
(Bob here) HBO has a hate-hate relationship with the show.
(Brian here) They are not aware that we did the show.
(David, back) They hate having to google Mr. Show.
More recently, Decider described it as a rights issue, since the show and its contracts long predate streaming. It didn’t seem like there were any plans to bring it to HBO Now, and Bob Odenkirk seems to have been as surprised as anyone at the news:
But whatever the issues were, HBO has solved them. In less than two weeks, audiences everywhere will be able to go through four years of Mr. Show in one sitting. Get your pizza order in now.
