This might not sound like a big deal, but please know that it kind of
was. Comedy Central was foreign territory for me. And sketch comedy? I’d laid
it to rest when the Kids left the Hall. My TV dance-card was pretty full with beloved
programming (New Girl! The Mindy Project! Parks & Recreation! Parenthood! Trust
me, the list goes on…), so there wasn’t a lot of room to test-drive new shows,
let alone set up a series recording. But I decided to be bold, to trust The Funny People on Twitter and take the Kroll
Show plunge.
I am so glad that I did. Jeff the Ref was a riot. And Wheels Ontario?
This Canuck wanted to exclaim “Screw you Pardon me, Mikey, I want Kroll Show to take me to the Poutine
Dance!” But the real magic happened just two minutes into the pilot, when I met
Liz B. and Liz G. When the hilarious Jenny Slate and Nick-Kroll-in-a-blonde-wig
introduced their PR firm PubLizity (“It’s
based off our names”), I was instantly smitten. They were the perfect blend of
ridiculous and reality-show-real, and it didn’t hurt that Liz G. sounded exactly like my favourite salesperson
from The Body Shop (he truly is amayzeen).
I once took my two-and-a-half-year-old Goddaughter Sofia to the zoo. I’ll
never forget the serious look that came over her little face as we stood in
darkness staring at the bats hanging upside down in their horror-show habitat. From
beneath her blonde pageboy she lisped “I don’t like thith pawt. Thith is
thcawy.” Why am I telling you this? Well, that’s kind of how I felt when Pretty
Liz introduced us to Dr. Armond, California’s Premier Plastic Surgeon for Pets ™.
One of the beautiful things about life is that sometimes it surprises
us. While I’d hastily dismissed Liz’s Count Chocula dog doctor as creepy and
probably mean, I had no idea that soon Dr. Armond would take up residence in a
little corner of my heart (and not just because he got his own spin-off). His
mild, patient and lovingly tolerant responses to his asshole son Roman’s assy
comments became one of my very favourite things about Kroll Show. I was already
garnering big laughs in my inner circle by tossing out a well-timed
“amayzeeeen!” (it never gets old) and before long a deadpan “Roman, I love you
very much” had been added to my repertoire. (I’m chuffed to report that my newest
impression, the spitty C-Czar, felt surprisingly strong right out of the gate.)
As the weeks went on, I found myself talking about Kroll Show to anyone
who would listen. But perhaps what surprised me more was how much time I spent thinking about Kroll Show. I could be at
work, or drifting off to sleep, or sitting with Oprah and Deepak for my evening
meditation, and I’d find my mind full of Liz squared, Dr. Armond and C-Czar.
And now the season has ended. It’s probably for the best. My love
affair with Dr. Armond could use some cooling. Until next season, Kroll Show!
P.S. We’ll always have YouTube.
