The Most Awesome Thing I Saw This Week (Dec 1-8)
EJ
On The Sarah Silverman Program, Sarah decided to secure her legacy by creating a new word. Despite her best attempts, “Ozay” doesn’t really catch on. What follows is a typically insane plot which involves both a musical number and an assassination attempt, as well as a scene where Sarah tries to help an African-American man think of a word more offensive than “Dot-Nose”. This is an episode which would have been hilarious on its own, but what really made it stand out was the parade of guest stars.
Stephen Root, a favorite of both Mike Judge and the Coen Brothers, appears as Johnny For-Reals, the man who created the word “Booyah”. Stephen Root is always funny, and this is a great, uncharacteristic turn for him. Rachael Harris, of The Daily Show, and Mr. Show alumni John Ennis appear in small roles, which shows a real commitment to filling every speaking part with people who are really funny. But perhaps best of all is an appearance by Matt Berry. That’s right, from the cult favorite Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace. The former Dr. Lucien Sanchez plays a representative of the Oxford English Dictionary, and while it’s jarring to see him correctly sound-synced, he scores plenty of laughs. Plus, I squealed girlishly when I saw him.
Second place: What happens when you match the audio from the new James Bond movie with scenes from the Wallace & Gromit series? You get Quantum of Wallace, which is approximately 100 times more entertaining than Daniel Craig’s second outing.
Don There’s never a doubt that I’ll usually choose something from The Daily Show or The Colbert Report for this feature, so why disappoint my 3 or 4 fans. Last week, Stephen Colbert “humbled” Kanye West and then dealt with the news item as only Stephen Colbert can.