Recently I have become more and more engrossed by the show "Gorburger"  on Comedy Central. I knew of the character of Gorburger prior to the show, but the show was my gateway. TJ Miller, of whom I'm a very big fan, had this blood thirsty, alien monster that hosted a talk show on Tokyo television. I saw some of the old clips online, but when the show was announced, I was very much on board. I like the idea very much, and I love when younger comedians spoof old time television.

So naturally, I tuned in to the series premiere 4 weeks ago. I did not know what to expect, but what I saw for 22 minutes kept me onboard. The show starts out as a game show in Tokyo, but then Gorburger gets blasted down to the set, quenches his blood thirst by devouring almost everyone on stage, then walks up to the 2 hosts and tells them that this is his show now, and he says that he will keep the very few people that you see standing on stage. One of those people is the announcer, and the other is the pop duo, Tokyo Fever, who whenever you say their name, they have to repeat in Japanese, "We are Tokyo Fever!". It is so bizarre, but I laugh every time.

The pilot episode features Reggie Watts, another guy that I am a big, big fan of. The whole plot is based on vaping. Gorburger even has a buddy of his, some guy that is famous on YouTube for the things he can do with vapor smoke, named Trevbone, that just sits there, vapes and does weird shit with the vapor smoke. It was distractingly weird, but it was also fun to see Reggie Watts looked just as confused as everyone else seemed to be. Reggie Watts was a good sport though, and he went along with all the weird stuff that Gorburger wanted him to do, including some absurd games. There was also a pre taped segment where Gorburger visited a real doll factory. It was disgusting, but also very funny, because TJ Miller, dressed as Gorburger, was given a full tour and got the whole spiel from the owner. It was wild. The episode ended with Reggie Watts and Thundercat doing an improvised song together, which was dope as hell. But, to keep it crazy, poor Trevbone was delivered a fatal blow to the head with a brick.

Like I said, the show does not make a whole lot of sense, but I found myself thinking about the pilot a few days after watching it. The more I thought about it, the more it was like a full sitcom version of an Adult Swim show. "Gorburger" was like watching a 22 minute long episode of "The Eric Andre Show" or "Aqua Teen Hunger Force", or even "Space Ghost: Coast to Coast". I love all those shows, so a 22 minute version of one was a great surprise.

Since the pilot, I have obviously watched the next 3 episodes. The second episode had Dr. Drew as the guest, again, being a very good sport, and the central plot was Gorburger's obsession with smooth jazz. The entire episode had Kenny G, who was literally wearing cement shoes, playing music anytime Gorburger wanted, because if he didn't, he would be hit with a brick, a la Trevbone. During the show, Gorburger visited a "twerking" class. That segment was nuts, but also very funny. "Twerking" is such a thing of the past, but to see this enormous alien try to "twerk", and the teachers really trying to teach him was a thing of comic beauty. Before the episode ended, Dr. Drew helped cure Gorburger's bloodlust, and played another absurd game. But, poor Kenny G had to keep playing jazz, Gorburger couldn't stop, and he met the same fate as Trevbone at the end of this episode.

Episode three had one of my favorite comedians, Tig Notaro, as the guest. Throughout the entire episode, little "gorbabies" keep showing up because it was shedding season for Gorburger, and they have been known to only give bad advice. During the interview segment, Notaro played a hilarious game called "Christian Bale or Christian Male", where she had to guess a quote Gorburger gave her as to if Bale, or a Christian male said it. It was laugh out loud hilarious. Later, Gorburger visited a wild life zoo, and again, it was bizarrely hilarious. The fact that these people want to be on TV so bad that they will let a guy dressed as an enormous blue alien monster come to their place just to get exposure. The interviews are always weird, but that is the point. The end of this episode was like the first 2, with Notaro playing another game, but it coming to a terrible demise for her and another gentlemen, when she took a Gorbaby's advice to smash herself through a brick wall. I'm sure this will be a running theme for the rest of the season.

The most recent episode featured Zach Woods and Johnny Pemberton, two of my favorite improv comedians/actors. They were game for all the weirdness that was "Gorburger". This has been, by far, the best episode to date. It was Grizzlebub's Day, which is like Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa for wherever in the hell Gorburger is from. They sang carols and played games and did other nonsense for the whole 22 minutes. The interview was very funny, playing another name game that immediately went off the rails. There was another death because Gorburger thought that Grizzlebub was coming due to a loud clanking sound, and the only way to appease him is a human sacrifice. It was disturbing, but dammit, I was laughing. The show ended with a performance from Portugal the Man, and the song was pretty good. We also come to find out that the clanking noise was the air conditioning guy fixing the AC unit, so the sacrifice wasn't needed.

I know this all sounds very bizarre, but for fans of absurdist humor, "Gorburger" is a homerun. I'm pretty sure season one is only 6 episodes, and they're already 4 in. I hope the people at Comedy Central keep this show going because I will watch the hell out of it, if it comes back for a second season. "Gorburger" is great. Weird, but great.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. One time he hot a guy in the face with a brick just for playing jazz. Ty does not fool around when jazz is being played. 

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