Important Things with Demetri Martin - Season One

Dropping out a year before graduating from the NYU School of Law where he had a full scholarship, Demetri Martin ventured into comedy and the world is a better place for it. His sense of humor combines intelligence and absurdity in vein similar to the work of comedian Steven Wright and Far Side cartoonist Gary Larson. Martin performed stand-up in clubs and worked as a writer for Late Night with Conan O’Brien during the 2003-2004 season. In 2005, he first appeared as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Stewart’s production company produces the Comedy Central series Important Things with Demetri Martin.

Similar in format to Dave Chappelle’s famous television series on the same channel, “Important Things” finds Martin performing live in front of a studio audience, sometimes with the help of visual aids as has become his signature, and in filmed sketches. The material for each of Season One’s seven episodes revolves around one word or idea. The episodes are titles accordingly: “Timing,” “Power,” “Brains,” “Chairs,” “Safety,” “Coolness,” and “Games.”

The show has recurring characters (Martin as the “What” Slam Poet Champion, the inventor DaMici, and the philopsher Demetrocles) and bits (“Fairly Important Fairy Tales” presents variations on familiar stories and “DADZ” finds two new dads adjusting to their roles). Martin is joined in many of the sketches by producer/writer H. Jon Benjamin whose voice and delivery are so perfect he doesn’t even need to be telling jokes to make me laugh. Many will recognize him as the voice of Ben from Dr. Katz Professional Therapist and Coach John McGuirk from Home Movies. Guest stars this season include David Cross, John Oliver, and Amanda Peet.

Some of the linking scenes look to be shot on 16mm and then blown up. The grainy footage gives the show a low budget, independent film look, and brings to mind The Kids in the Hall. The DVD is uncensored, but it doesn’t make that completely clear unless you read the small print on the back of the case. When Martin dropped the f-word, it caught me off guard.

The DVD comes with Bonus Things. There are deleted sketches and outtakes, pre-production notes, commentaries on four episodes and one deleted sketch with Martin and two writers who provide great insight into the making-of the episodes.

Important Things With Demetri Martin has been picked up for a second season to air in 2010, and from the number of laughs the series offers, it’s easy to understand why. If you think comedy is important, rent this DVD.

Dr. Katz Professional Therapist: The Complete Series

Dr. Katz Professional Therapist is a very funny series that ran on Comedy Central from 1995 to 1999; however, it may best be known for its animation style known as “Squigglevision,” which series co-creator Tom Snyder invented. This form of computer animation looked very bizarre as all the outlines of animate figures undulated. It takes a few episodes to get used to, but the high comedy quotient makes it worthwhile.

Each episode has a similar formula that combines the professional and personal life of Dr. Katz. He usually saw two patients an episode, and the roster is an impressive who’s-who of comedic talent. They are mostly stand-up comedians whose therapy sessions are a combination of their routines and riffing with Dr. Katz. The roster included famous (Rodney Dangerfield, Garry Shandling, Joan Rivers), the soon-to-be famous (Ray Romano and future Comedy Central stars Dave Chappelle and Jon Stewart), and cult comics (Dom Irerra, Judy Tenuta, and Mitch Hedberg). Occasionally, he has sessions with actors and writers like Julia Louis-Dreyfus, David Duchovny, Ben Stiller, Carrie Fisher, David Mamet, and Harry Shearer.

While the series is a stand-up aficionado’s dream, the biggest laughs come from Dr. Katz’ personal life. Most storylines involve misadventures with his son Ben (H. Jon Benjamin), a twenty-something Gen-X slacker, and/or his mean and aloof secretary Laura (Laura Silverman, who appears on her sister's series, The Sarah Silverman Program), who both have an equal disdain for work. Ben can’t seem to find a job he is interested in. “Daredevil” isn’t listed in the want ads, and no one is looking for what he was good at as a child: wearing his father’s pants, pulled up over his head, and bumping into things. Laura doesn’t like the job she has even though she does whatever she pleases from taking days off to stealing office supplies. Ben at least makes an occasional effort, such as ordering two Vietnamese Pot Belly pigs for breeding, although he forgot to specify the sex, and starting a celebrity limo service even though he has no car or even a charge card to rent one. Ben is smitten with Laura, as he is every woman, and she could not be more obvious that she has no interest, yet he doesn’t take or seem to understand the word “No” as an answer. Dr. Katz also spends time at the local tavern with Stanley (Will Le Bow) and bartender Julie (Julianne Shapiro).

Before Larry David made the improvised sitcom vogue with Curb Your Enthusiasm, Katz and the gang had done the exact same thing years ago. The stories were only outlined and everyone contributed material, giving the scenes a loose, natural feel to them like when Dr. Katz and Ben shout things about having nothing of value before then proclaiming they are police officers with automatic weapons at what they think is someone trying to break into their home. The actors crack each other up, but it never ruins the context of scene. In the same episode, when discussing upgrading the security on their apartment, Dr. Katz suggests a lower peephole in the door because in every scary movie he's seen there’s been a midget that kills. Actor Benjamin understandably almost loses it as he is caught off guard.

After releasing the first two seasons individually in 2006, the decision was made to release all six seasons on a mammoth 13-disc collection, certain to annoy the serious fans who already committed. There are three “Lost” episodes from the final season that aired in Canada, but not the U.S. The bonus features from the first two releases are exactly the same: audio commentaries by Katz, Benjamin, Snyder, Romano, and Dave Attell, a bio of Dr. Katz, shorts from an old Comedy Central series called Short Attention Span Theatre, a Squigglevision short, and follow-up calls with patients Joy Behar, Emo Phillips, and Steven Wright. New features include a live stage performance of Dr. Katz from 2007 with patients Maria Bamford, Kathy Griffin, Andy Kindler, and Paul F. Tompkins. There are also a few shorts under the title “Why I Haven’t Been Coming To The Bar,” which are conversations between Dr. Katz, Julie, and Stanley, but they aren’t too funny.

Dr Katz Professional Therapist: The Complete Series, is expensive, but at roughly $10 or less a disc, the laugh-per-dollar ratio is very much in the buyer’s favor considering all the comedic talent involved. If not a must-have for you, it’s an absolute must-rent.

Dr. Katz and Ben discuss his looking for work: