Jeff Dunham has formed a comedy empire out of playing with dolls, and he was able to turn that empire into a season of a comedy show on Comedy Central.
For those who don’t know Jeff Dunham, he is probably the most successful ventriloquist in the history of the world. He’s released 3 DVD specials that have been huge hits and has performed in front of numerous sell out crowds. I’ve seen all three and they are some of my favorite stand-up specials. So the show had high standards to live up to.
For those who didn’t see the show, it was basically sketch comedy with puppets going out into the real world. They were on-location with Marines, an adult film shop, a gun range and a rehab center. The show, unlike the stand up specials, is not funny. It could be the toned down nature of the TV show versus the specials, not that the specials are overly racy, but the TV show is a step down.
Jokes and situations are reused from episode to episode, a couple of the puppets go to a ring tone recording studio, the same doctor comes up in multiple episodes and the joke for her sections is usually something with her Asian descent.
The show features all the characters from the stand-up specials, Bubba J, Peanut, Sweet Daddy Dee, Walter, Achmed, and Jose` even though Jose` makes only one or two apperances throughout the shows run. And the shows run was not long, it last 7 episodes before Comedy Central pulled the plug on it.
The Jeff Dunham Show is presented in Widescreen format and Stereo Sound.
It looks fine, there are some parts where the green screen is noticeable, but generally it’s done very well. Props to them on that.
An Unaired Sketch – It’s not really so much unaired, as they just changed it to eliminate 95% of the unfunny part and left the other 5% in the show as a bumper coming back from commercial.
Behind The Scenes – Quick, simple behind the scenes from the military base, funeral home, and the promotional commercial shoot.
Bloopers from the show – Shows how quick Jeff can think, but overall very passable.
A couple of funny stand-up specials doesn’t equate to success on the TV landscape and this show was another example of that. Same jokes, recurring themes, just basically a swing and a miss. If you’re a die-hard Dunham fan, you’ll probably want this to keep the collection full, but anything less than that and you can pass.
Comedy Central Presents The Jeff Dunham Show Starring Jeff Dunham, Penelope Hsu, and Elizabeth Koshak. Written by Jeff Dunham. Running time: 154 minutes. Not Rated. Released on DVD: May 18, 2010. Available at Amazon.com.
