I can’t stand football. I can’t watch one game without getting frustrated by rules that make absolutely no sense to me. My favorite parts of the Super Bowl are the commercials, the halftime show and the Puppy Bowl. I will never have any interest in football. Thankfully, Comedy Bang! Bang!’s special Super Bowl week episode proves that they also clearly have no interest in football or sports either, and it’s that lack of interest that makes “Eddie George” works.
“Eddie George” abandons their recent stretch of movie parodies, but still embraces a common film idea: the swap. Here, Scott and Reggie must switch topics with Sports Circumference, a sports show that films near the CBB studio and is hosted by two bully jocks, played by Cedric Yarbrough and Kyle Bornheimer. This decree is given to them by Johnny Tigers, played by the always hilarious Brian Huskey, who not only was a former athlete, but also appeared in more blooper compilations than any player in history. So, Comedy Bang! Bang! must have a sports focus, while Sports Circumference has to have a comedy focus.
It’s immediately clear Reggie and Scott don’t know what they’re doing when their “sports talk” results in them discussing whether they like the ball or the puck more (they both settle on shuttlecock). Sports Circumference isn’t fairing much better, when their Who’s Up First? bit consists of them literally stating who is up first in a baseball game currently happening.
After the disaster that was Schoolboy Q last week, I was worried about Eddie George, one of the only other guests this season that doesn’t have a strong comedy background. George isn’t particularly great, but he definitely is dedicated to having fun and going along with whatever Scott and everyone else throws at him. This especially comes into play when Wendell Gazalle, the newly appointed NFL commissioner comes out.
Gazalle, played by Craig Cackowski, is basically what I would be if I were the NFL commissioner. He suggests adding basketball hoops, wrapping up all the season’s storylines, and plans on changing the football into a long, thin, blue dildo. Basically he wants to change everything and make football interesting and fun, except of course the referees will still be in their signature striped shirts.
Even though George is fine in his own segment (playing along as he tries to predict the Super Bowl winner between “AFC Champion” and “Team #2,” or giving a made-up apology to Scott for putting a snake in his locker), it’s really fun watching him try to add on to Gazalle’s increasing weirdness, because it’s clear he’s enjoying himself and the strange direction the show has gone. Even if a guest isn’t necessarily the greatest, sometimes just being excited to be there can be enough.
In “Eddie George” every skit also returns to the main theme, this time with a “halved time show” that goes on for far too long, which turns into a interpretive dance, and gives us Brody Stevens in a quick cameo as a ref.
“Eddie George” isn’t necessarily Comedy Bang! Bang! at its best, but it is a nice change of pace for the show. They tried some new things, including a new intro, and different types of guests outside of the comedian realm.
Ross Bonaime is a D.C.-based freelance writer and regular contributor to Paste. You can follow him on Twitter.