Both Borat and Eric Andre returning within a few days of each other? I guess the holidays have decided to arrive early.
Anyone who read my review of “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” would probably not be surprised “The Eric Andre Show” is one of the few shows I actually find myself watching frequently. Most shows feel like a real commitment, but Eric Andre is different. Part of it is how short the episodes are — most only being 11 minutes long — but I also just enjoy watching it more than other comedies.
Even though it had been four years since the end of the last season, I didn’t feel like “The Eric Andre Show” was seriously absent from my life. I hadn’t started watching it until about two years ago, and I personally find a lot of the older episodes very rewatchable. That being said, I wasn’t going to complain about another season, and I definitely wasn’t going to complain about the first two episodes premiering together Sunday night.
“The Eric Andre Show” is a comedy series on Adult Swim hosted by Eric Andre and formerly co-hosted by Hannibal Buress, in which they play fake talk show hosts who seem to be constantly fumbling their way through their own show. In between interviews with guests, Andre goes out on the street and performs a variety of oft-surreal sketches, many of which use the reactions of real people for comedic purposes.
While this latest season comes with a fresh set and a newly bald Andre, it's pretty much the same show it's always been. Andre is playing the same character, using the same format and even using some of the same bits.
One of the things I was really happy to see was that many of the sketches were new material. Between the two episodes, only three of the sketches were recycled from previous seasons, and even those ones found ways to mix it up. And yeah, the new stuff isn't exactly revolutionary, but Andre and Buress are both so good at delivering the bits that they could make just about anything funny.
The one disappointment of this new season is that these may be the only episodes Hannibal will appear in. The day before the season premiere, Andre tweeted that Buress would no longer be a co-host on the show. While there is the possibility that it was a gag, it currently appears he will not be returning beyond the first two episodes. But even if he is gone forever, we at least have some really great moments from the beginning of this season.
Other than that, it’s hard to find anything to say about this new season of “The Eric Andre Show.” Even with a full four years between seasons, not much has changed. But it’s not like I was dying for Andre and Buress to start making different content. Honestly, all I want is to see Andre crash into the background of his set.
If you didn’t like previous seasons of “The Eric Andre Show,” then there’s no real reason to bother checking this one out. But if you’re a fan who’s been waiting for more, then you’re in luck.
You can watch “The Eric Andre Show” Sundays at midnight on Adult Swim.
