294 replies to this topic

[possibilities]

Another sketch comedy show from Comedy Central; it's getting favorable reviews:

NPR:
For 'Black Nerds Everywhere,' Two Comedy Heroes

Chicago Tribune:
Strong first impressions for 'Key & Peele'

It is also airing in Canada.
Toronto Sun:
Key & Peele: a breath of fresh air

Official Show Site:
http://www.comedycen...CFaERNAod0D82tg

I'm going to give it a try. The promos airing on Comedy Central didn't grab me, but the interviews with Key and Peele made me like them, and I want to see where it goes.

[nicepebbles]

Mr. Nice and I are really looking forward to this show. We liked the both of them when they were on Mad TV.

[possibilities]

I found even more reviews, and it seems like everyone loves it:

BET:
Key & Peele: Black and White Are Red Hot

Montreal Gazette:
'Before Obama, we basically had Urkel'

The Examiner
Review: Comedy Central's 'Key and Peele' is hilarious, mandatory viewing

Huffington Post:
'Key & Peele' Season One Preview: Slavery, Bar Mitzvahs & Cross-Dressing (VIDEO)

I won't keep posting links, I was just impressed by the unanimity of opinion.

I have become wary of Comedy Central launches, but this one seems to have a lot of potential.

[peeayebee]

I'm going to give it a try. The promos airing on Comedy Central didn't grab me, but the interviews with Key and Peele made me like them, and I want to see where it goes.

I'm right with you. I've been FF'ing thru the promos on CC. I thought the show was like a sitcom where Obama has an Angry Black Man sidekick. But I heard the NPR story this morning, and the show sounds really good. I'm going to set up my DVR right now.

[bulldawgtownie]

Man, comedy really is subjective. I LOVE the promos. I'm hoping this show replaces the hole in my heart caused by the fiasco with Dave Chappelle.

[Turkish]

I really liked it but Comedy Central just pretty much made it Chappelle Show 2.0 right down to having them introducing the sketches to the audience. I'm willing to excuse that only because I love Keegan Michael Key so much. And Jordan Peele does Obama better than the guy on SNL. Key was killing me during that whole sketch. And the ancestry.com sketch with all the black people being related to Thomas Jefferson was gold and probably factually accurate. The only stuff I think that didn't really work this episode was the L'll Wayne stuff.

Edited by Turkish, Feb 1, 2012 @ 1:24 AM.

[Rinaldo]

No sketch show is wonderful 100% of its time -- having to get a new inspiration (instead of having plot continuity to help) every 3 minutes pretty much rules that out. So I'm sure they were grateful to have a bit of audience interaction to fill a little time... even though the audience had in effect shown up to watch video monitors.

BUT: At the moment, they have a higher "success" ratio than any other such show I can think of. Their premise is fresh and so is their humor, and I laughed out loud at nearly all of it. I'll definitely be back every week.

[sprinter]

I loved these two on MADtv and I love them here. I thought this was a promising start.

[mona kane]

I enjoyed the show. Not all of it was laugh out loud funny, but it definitely has potential and was much more entertaining than SNL. I liked that the Obama skit at the end called back to the first skit.

[tabbygirl521]

Loved it at our house. I expected good things, having loved both these guys on MADtv, and was definitely not disappointed. Laughed out loud several times, and had a great time throughout. I like their chemistry when talking to the audience, too. And despite this having a similar format to Chappelle's Show, it didn't really remind me of it.

Jordan has Obama's voice NAILED. SO good.

[possibilities]

The folks at SNL need to have a good hard cry now that this aired, because their Obama sketches are pitiful in comparison to what these guys offered.

I think the format is kind of a Comedy Central staple. They do it with all of their sketch shows, or at least all the ones I've seen. The publicity has been pretty open about wanting Key and Peele to be the next Chappelle, but the format itself I think is just their standard approach.

[bulldawgtownie]

Overall, I enjoyed the first episode a lot. The only sketch that fell kind of flat was the Lil' Wayne one and that's because I didn't like Peele's impression. But the look on his face after he saw that he dropped the soap and had five much bigger guys surrounding him was great. Also that Obama sketch was hilarious, IMO better than all of SNL's Obama sketches combined.

I just happened to watch the episode of "Conan" with Jordan Peele as his guest earlier yesterday and according to Peele his Obama is his impression of Montel Williams minus his impression of Method Man. I never thought of President Obama's voice and cadence as a cross of those two guys but apparently it works.

Edited by bulldawgtownie, Feb 1, 2012 @ 2:04 PM.

[HarpsiPoet]

The folks at SNL need to have a good hard cry now that this aired, because their Obama sketches are pitiful in comparison to what these guys offered.

The worst part is Jordan Peele auditioned for SNL when they were looking for someone to play Obama, but instead they went with Fred Armisen's inferior impression.

[peeayebee]

But the look on his face after he saw that he dropped the soap and had five much bigger guys surrounding him was great.

I loved the camera shot. We see the soap down at his feet, then pan up to see him immediately surrounded by those huge dudes.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. My one criticism is the audience bit. I much prefer the filmed skits. But the stand-up stuff with the audience wasn't bad. It was all right, just not anything remarkable. I'm not really familiar with these two guys -- I've rarely watched MadTV -- but Peele looks a little familiar. Actually, I think Key reminds me of Ryan Stiles. Something in his facial expressions.

I thought all the skits were good. I even liked the Lil' Wayne one because of the way he was stabbed every time. I've seen that in dramatic movies and TV shows, that quick stab-stab-stab business with a shiv, but it was just so funny here, probably because of Key's face.

Anyway, this show is a keeper.

[Turkish]

I'm not really familiar with these two guys -- I've rarely watched MadTV -- but Peele looks a little familiar. Actually, I think Key reminds me of Ryan Stiles. Something in his facial expressions.

Besides Madtv, Peele was also on Children's Hospital and Chocolate News. And I remember Key very fondly from his recurring role on Reno 911 as the hypothetical criminal. Hopefully this show lasts because it is ten times funnier than SNL. I actually laughed at most of their sketches whereas I barely get one or two laughs out of SNL these days.

[Ankai]

My one criticism is the audience bit. I much prefer the filmed skits. But the stand-up stuff with the audience wasn't bad.

I noticed that we did not hear the audience during the filmed skits. I am pretty sure that we heard the audience during the Chapelle's Show skits. It seemed to work, given that it took several seconds for the actual joke of the skit to be established and sometimes it was hard to tell immediately; audience laughter would have hurt the reveal. The audience bits were okay for them to be funny out of character, though maybe they could be cut if need be. I did get the impression that there was more to the audience bit than what we saw.

The Lil Wayne bits were my least favorite. Since he did not look or sound like Lil Wayne, the whole thing came across as some someone's infantile revenge fantasy on a celebrity who did not do anything to him. The first one was kind of funny for its abruptness, but the other two just cheapened it.

The reality show chef bit reminded me a lot of the mean/nice man Monty Python skit, though this one seemed to flow better. And that was Badger from Breaking Bad.

[Rinaldo]

As comedy-show segments with audience go, these were some of the best I've seen. There were some really funny moments, the guys have engaging personalities and ways of talking (I would miss it if we never got to see them "as themselves" in the course of a half hour), and they kept it short and quick. All thumbs up.

[Doom]

really liked it but Comedy Central just pretty much made it Chappelle Show 2.0 right down to having them introducing the sketches to the audience.

First thing I thought too. But along with everyone in here, I was pleasantly surprised at how funny it was! The "and then I said....beeeeatch" ... "You said that?" skit killed me. Some great stuff in there, and I also agree the Wayne stuff was weak sauce. Definitely going to be watching this series though.

[Ankai]

There were some really funny moments, the guys have engaging personalities and ways of talking (I would miss it if we never got to see them "as themselves" in the course of a half hour), and they kept it short and quick.

Now that I think more on it, I would probably keep the audience bits too. They are a different type of goofy than David Chappelle was and they did more than just talk about the skit that they were going to do. The bit about them being the Whitest Black guys was only hinted at in some of the sketches and the bit about driving was only tangentially related to the marijuana skit.

[Doom]

Another great episode. This show is really good! It has a dud moment here or there, but the stage elements are as funny as the skits. They just seem to know what is funny and when to cut the skit. It's really sharp when it hits. I loved the doctor skit with the ya momma jokes. Also the stage bit about a white mom hitting a black kid in public - so funny! I saw a tumblr post where someone who did some work for the show was adamantly plugging it saying how good it is, but I can't seem to locate it again.

[themadman]

As an Indian, may I just say that I finally saw a half-decent Indian accent from a non-Indian actor on TV. Thanks Keegan.
(And yes, I include the horrible ones from "Outsourced".)

[sprinter]

I started choking at the phone camera skit. That hasn't happened while watching a sketch comedy show in years.

This show's a keeper.

[peeayebee]

I'm so glad I'm watching this show. Very funny, very enjoyable.

I thought both of them looked pretty good dressed as women, but that might have been my least favorite skit. I loved their performances, but it was predictable. Oh, I liked that their mascara was smeared when they were getting their mugshots taken.

Hard to say what my favorite one was. I liked the MLK/Malcolm X play, with the actors pandering to the audience. What really cracked me up was Malcolm X doing the worm and the moonwalk.

Even though it wasn't much, I liked the helicopter skit. I don't know why.

I absolutely loved the bit about white guys fighting.

What were the 90's pants that Key was talking about?

These guys are so good. Funny, great performers, and very likable.

I think Jordan reminds me of Leonard from The Big Bang Theory.

[Turkish]

I absolutely loved the bit about white guys fighting.

OMG, that had me laughing so hard because it is totally true.

This episode was just as good as the first. I am season passing this so hard.

[Bruinsfan]

I caught a bit of one last night, and even with the sound off (in consideration of my neighbor and the paper-thin wall between our bedrooms) I was cracking up at Jordan's facial expressions as he chased Keegan-Michael all over the stage.

[Doom]

Is there a place to watch these online on comedy central?

Here is the Tumblr post I was referring to:

I shot parts on two episodes so I will tell you what I know about it. FIRST: Key and Peele are FUCKING funny and smart. They get RIGHT in there and use their formidable funniness on topics that are actually important, like politics, race and more. SECOND: The director of every episode is Peter Atencio, who is not just a hired gun who they thought “Oh, he’s safely and dependably directed a bunch of sketch comedy shows or a bunch of Comedy Central shows so we know he won’t fuck it up.” No, he’s a very young precocious asshole who is (and I apologize for using this word) an artist. I mean that in the best way; there are cinematic techniques used in the show that are wildly creative and exciting and beautiful that add elements to the show’s feel that Rick Sloan, a hack director I just made up, would never have thought up or bothered with. THIRD: It’s executive produced by Ian Roberts. Anyone even peripherally involved with comedy in 2012 knows that no one living is funnier than Ian Roberts. Will Ferrell would tell you that. Tina Fey would tell you that. Ricky Gervais would tell you that. (Just kidding; Ricky Gervais is an asshole and would be like “He’s never written a Wall St. Journal op-ed disproving the existence of God, so how can he TRULY be funny?”) In any case, Ian Roberts EPs the show and helps write it and was super involved when I was on the set, tossing out lines for people to say and being hilarious.

[bulldawgtownie]

What were the 90's pants that Key was talking about?

Being fashion challenged I'm not certain but it sounded like he was talking about what were commonly referred to as hammer pants(MC Hammer loved to wear them) or otherwise known as parachute pants.

Edited by bulldawgtownie, Feb 9, 2012 @ 1:48 PM.

[nicepebbles]

For some reason the first episode didn't air where I'm at in the time slot it was supposed to. Mr. Nice and I caught it on repeat. It was worth the wait. We cracked up the entire time. My favorite sketch was the "You called her that, right?" I was dying. We thought the second episode was just as funny.

Mr. Nice does say, they're hilarious but they're no Dave Chapelle. They are not him. Yet, I find them just as funny. Their humor is slightly different though.

I like all the bits on the show. I thought the parts where they talked to the audience would be more related to the sketches that follow. Since they aren't, I'm not sure what the point is of that part except to interact with the audience. For the audience, live and at home, to see them out of character.

I liked both of these guys when they were on MadTV. I was mad (ha!) when the show was cancelled. I also remember KMK from that video show he did on Animal Planet. It was America's Home Videos but with animals. He was funny on that. That's the only reason I would watch it when I came across it.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this show is a keeper.

[Rinaldo]

I thought the parts where they talked to the audience would be more related to the sketches that follow. Since they aren't, I'm not sure what the point is of that part except to interact with the audience.

Well, except that the audience bits are often (for me) as funny as the sketches, sometimes more so -- so I'm glad we have both, and I think both are an essential part of the show. It's in the audience-interaction parts where we see "how white guys fight" and how black kids with a white mother catch on real quick that she can't discipline them in public.

These guys have something distinctive to offer, and I wish them long-continued success.

[peeayebee]

The audience bit still seems strange to me, but I enjoyed it a lot more this week than last. I mean, White Guys Fighting was one of the best parts of the ep. I don't think it would have worked in a filmed sketch. There wasn't enough there for a sketch, but it was a hilarious observation.