The Dessert

... a lot of basketball references across episodes.... which I found a tad odd (one of the writers must REALLY be into basketball).... I think at least 4 of the 6 episodes features some basketball storyline to a great degree.

If I had to describe season one in brief terms.. It would be "Thirsty" or "Try Hard". CLEARLY there were a lot of attempts at jokes, but a good 90%+ of them landed flat to me. Nothing very funny.

For the most part, it's just "stupid comedy" that is to say.. Set up .... then... if CharacterX was a complete moron.. here's how Scenario A would play out. After a few sketches, it's clear that every single one of the sketches takes the "stupidest" character turn in the hopes of a laugh. Sketches aren't really about creativity or the unexpected.

The longer sketches seemed to just go on too long with little payoff.. the shorter, more crude sketches seems to be crude for the sake of being crude.

The ONLY good idea was the blind superhero.... That was a fantastic concept... not sure it was utilized to its fullest (I mean they made other characters the "stupid character" so the blind hero could play a part), but that idea was the only spark of comedy in the entire series. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear until the last episode.

Maybe I just didn't get this series.

In short - this ain't no Kids in the Hall or anywhere close to it. Just because McCulloch produced it, it doesn't mean he had any part in writing any of it.

So, I grew up in Canada with "The Kids" as well as "Four" and the like. As I grew older I also became accustom to other sketches such as Mr. Show. This show, in my opinion takes all the worst of shows such as Kids in the Hall, Four on the Floor and Mr. Show and amplifies them. This show, again to me, is the pivot point in dark humor and I love every moment of it. It's taken an old baton that has been long dropped, picked it up and started to run with it again. I have missed this type of humor for so long. Is this for everyone? Not in the least. Is it for those who have a twisted sense of humor? Oh absolutely. Thank you for this. I haven't laughed like this in a long, long time.

For the record, I watched all six episodes before writing this review.

The first two episodes? Meh. But then the show started getting the hang of callback humor. By the end, the last two episodes had some truly LOL moments, and I was left wanting (a lot) more.

Unfortunately, a lot of the skits (excuse me, sketches!) suffer from the same disease as SNL - a funny set-up but totally unable to stick any sort of landing. And a couple of times (in the first two eps, especially), it truly felt like the actors were being broadcast live, as you could see their nervousness and rushed timing.

Luckily, there are a couple of truly deep pools of comedic talent that get explored, namely the correct use of CGI (the dinosaur sketch - solid gold and the clear winner!) and an adept blend of humor styles (Red Knight was funny precisely because of how unexpected it was) that played to the writers/casts' strengths (the in-jokes about the comedy world and Canada-isms were particularly strong).

Overall, I'd recommend that the producers CUT the budget and concentrate more on forcing this show to be funny on a shoestring (similar to KITH) rather than getting too comfortable with expensive sets and outdoor filming locations.

Final conclusion? I definitely believe this show can find its groove if given another season (or more) and grow and mature into a legendary comedy show.

I stumbled onto "The Dessert" with no particular expectation other than to be politely amused, and I gotta say that the show over-delivered on that expectation. The comedy here is audacious, the cast is fresh and fearless and the risks taken are as unnerving as they are surprising. The Dessert shows immense promise - it's like Kids In The Hall but with waaaay fewer rules. They're really pushing the boundaries of good taste all over the place (which I love). Cheap (but funny) sight gags are aplenty, but they can't hide a far more sly comedic perspective embedded here. I can tell that this is Canadian comedy - it's "n your face" clever and, ultimately, outrageous.

So refreshing to see uncensored unabashed comedy again. Especially from the mind of Bruce McCulloch who no doubt was frustrated by the constraints from Amazon's reboot of 'Kids in the Hall'.

Again, my only gripe is that we only got 6 crude rude and socially unacceptable episodes. I just hope with a season 2 this gets expanded on, either with longer episodes or an increase in the number of. I also think it would be cool to see sketches (not skits) with Bruce and company, I don't think after seeing Shane, Isabella and Jillian's performances in Season 1 that it would overshadow their obvious individual talent.