The two completed episodes of this show are floating around the internet, along with some extra deleted scenes. Mr. Show is probably my favorite all-time sketch show, and "Next!" is basically Mr. Show II, the network version. Bob Odenkirk, Jay Johnstone, Jill Talley and Jerry Minor are in almost every scene, and there are clutch appearances from David Cross & Brian Posehn as well. The sensibility is somewhat similar to Mr. Show's 4th season, dark and weird at times, Bob playing lots of arrogant frustrated guys, the way he does so well.Fred Armisen and Galifianakis were clutch additions to the cast, and both went on to success on other shows.
Mr. Show, of course was, on HBO, and this was developed for Fox. As you might imagine, the humor is dumbed down a bit for network audiences; there are some poop jokes, nerds in chat rooms are zinged, and the recurring segment with Fred Armisen as a German version of James Lipton who cruelly mocks his guests is just plain unfunny.
But there are some insanely great skits as well; the newscasts are great, Jay and Bob as inept car salesmen, Fred Armisen in an airport security training video reminiscent of F.F. Woodycook's. It's a damn shame this got passed over. MadTV has been on the air for 13 years, and has sucked for the last 10.
