Not since "Meet the Feebles" have puppets been used for such evil purposes. "TV Funhouse" is pure gold: a demented kiddie variety show with some reality skits thrown in (a method taken, I'm guessing, from the hidden-camera end credit shots from "The Upright Citizens Brigade") and a few animated shorts to fill out the rest of the half hour, all three shockingly, hilariously obscene.
The twisted scenes involving the drug-using, cannibalistic, necrophiliac Anipals are jaw-dropping, to say the least; the Christmas special involved them injecting a hypodermic needle into the spine of their good-natured host in order to extract some "Christmas spirit," then cutting the pinkish substance and selling it on the street (not to mention using it heavily themselves). If that's where the episodes starts, imagine the ending.
Robert Smigel's animated sequences are, it seems, what he would have done earlier had "Saturday Night Live" not been on a broadcast channel: the usual use of impersonated celebrities and wacky situations is raised to grotesque new levels, making it much, much funnier.
A show that is nearly impossible to describe, the kind of thing which becomes mind-numbing when described by a breathless, giggling friend, "TV Funhouse" in its undiluted first-hand form is one of the funniest shows Comedy Central has produced in a while, rivaling "Strangers with Candy" and "The Upright Citizens Brigade" in crudeness, giddy hilarity, and sheer ballsiness. Highly recommended for those with strong stomachs and a low tolerance for political correctness.
