The ArScheerio Paul Show Has Gotta Be The Weirdest Comedy Series On The Internet
The latest episode features Alison Brie impersonating Madonna and Adam Pally impersonating Rosie O'Donnell. We told you it was weird.
“Here is one of the weirdest things I’ve ever done”, said impossibly-faced comedian Paul Scheer when he first launched his new web series — The Arscheerio Paul Show (currently screening on YouTube’s ‘buh’ channel, home to Jenny Slate’s equally odd Catherine) — earlier this year. He wasn’t kidding. It’s an absurd Andy Kaufman-esque, shot-for-shot recreation of classic episodes of the legendary ’90s talk show, The Arsenio Hall Show. (I don’t think we ever got The Arsenio Hall Show here in Australia, but I call it legendary because Phife Dawg once mentioned it in a Tribe Called Quest song, so I guess that’s pretty legendary?)
The whole series began in April with an episode in which Will Arnett impersonated Bill Clinton, and not particularly faithfully. As one insightful YouTube viewer commented: “How did this get made?”
Since then, Scheer’s called on the services of a bunch of famous comedian friends and made seven new installments of the series which he dropped online overnight — there’s one where Seth Rogen impersonates Diff’rent Strokes hero Gary Coleman, another where 30 Rock‘s Jack McBrayer impersonates action legend Steven Seagal, and another where The New Girl‘s Max Greenfield impersonates Vanilla Ice. (No one’s yet tackled the infamous episode where basketballer Magic Johnson, fresh from announcing that he’d contracted HIV, took to Arsenio’s stage to declare that he was “FAR from homosexual” — head to the 3:50 mark — and the whole audience whooped and hollered… That was an awkward episode.)
Most excitingly, though, was the new episode featuring Alison Brie as Madonna, Weird Al as Madonna’s father, and Happy Endings‘ Adam Pally as Rosie O’ Donnell, delightfully recreating their appearance on Arsenio’s show in ’92 to promote the baseball tearjerker, A League Of Their Own. Seeing Max Blum in a wig and saying things like “hot tamale” in a thick Noo Yawk accent is obviously funny, but for the most part, you won’t really understand why you’re laughing.
And, to save you a YouTube search, here’s the original interview to compare it to, because it’s the first thing you’ll be thinking about after watching that video. The ’90s were ridiculous.
Catch all the other episodes here, and either giggle uncontrollably or look on confusingly; either reaction is appropriate.