CHILDRENS HOSPITAL is fearless in that it goes to the most absurd places and completely commits itself. Absurdist comedy is something I just can't get enough of myself so it's always wonderful to see a show that revels in going there all the time. My introduction to the show was a while ago now, but it couldn't have come at a better time. I make a regular practice of watching movies with my son and we had gone through a long running series if comedy films stretching from the Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd through the Marx Brothers and Jerry Lewis. Those all went over really well, but the stuff that got the best response was things like AIRPLANE! and the NAKED GUN films (as well as the amazing POLICE SQUAD TV show). My son and I were just starting to have to dip into the later-period lesser Zucker/Abrahams output when CHILDRENS HOSPITAL appeared on our radar. It was a perfect natural transition into that show and it was immediately a hit with both of us. My son had never seen THE STATE or STELLA, but I think he'd like them and I could feel the offbeat, awkward sensibilities of those shows creeping into the mix on this one.
I love to think that CHILDRENS HOSPITAL is continuing the tradition of great spoof comedy started so long ago, but with an oddball bent on a consistently random ( if that makes sense) comic reality. David Wain, Rob Corddry and the creative team behind the show (several of the actors take turns directing episodes too) have this hyper-awareness of genre conventions and cliches that they use to deftly ride the satirical/dramatic line. An awareness in not only the conventions of medical dramas, but of countless other types of shows or movies that they transpose onto the Childrens Hospital staff. One of the biggest and most enjoyable things about the show is that you literally have no idea where it'll go from episode to episode. One will be an Agatha Christie-style whodunit, while another episode is immersed in a scifi thriller plot. Another component that makes the show work is it's speed. No joke or comedic premise for a scene is played too long and each episode moves along at a remarkable clip. The amount of throwaway jokes we found ourselves laughing at were innumerable. It's just a remarkable blend of great comic writer, commuted comic actors and an off-center sensibility that make CHILDRENS HOSPITAL one of the most hilarious and unique shows on TV right now. It is not to be missed if you're a big comedy fan. Season Five features a plethura of groovy cameos from the likes of Key & Peele, Nick Offerman, Weird Al Yankovic, and Jon Hamm. WIlliam Atherton (REAL GENIUS, GHOSTBUSTERS) makes a quick but welcome appearance in one episode!
Here is a neat audio interview that Warner Archive did with Rob Corddry right around the time that CHILDRENS HOSPITAL Season Four hit DVD:
http://warnerarchive.tumblr.com/post/52240474500/childrens-hospitals-rob-corddry
Here is a neat audio interview that Warner Archive did with Rob Corddry right around the time that CHILDRENS HOSPITAL Season Four hit DVD:
http://warnerarchive.tumblr.com/post/52240474500/childrens-hospitals-rob-corddry
Here is another great interview with show executive porducer David Wain on Jeff Goldsmith's The Q&A Podcast:
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