Review: The Gorburger Show “Grizzlebub’s Day”

The Comedy Central series posts its weakest episode, yet.

The Gorburger Show continues its streak of brilliance. The parody of talk shows is fantastic, and the episode “Grizzlebub’s Day” features, even more, blood-soaked ridiculous fun. In “Gorbabies,” the episode culminated with the game Get Down Gram Gram, which ended in carnage. “Grizzlebub’s Day” is even funnier, bloodier, and wacky.

As “Grizzlebub’s Day” opens, Gorburger (T.J. Miller) explains that it’s a special holiday: Grizzlebub’s Day. So what exactly is Grizzlebub? It’s a god on Gorburger’s planet. “Kind of like your Old Testament god, except he’s meaner and you can see him,” Gorburger explains. Once a year, on Grizzlebub’s Day, there’s a custom of paying homage to Grizzlebub to appease his appetite for destruction and stroke his immense ego.

Guests this episode include Johnny Pemberton and Zach Woods. Games level up in zaniness. There’s Macy or Gacy, where Pemberton and Woods must identify quotes by William H. Macy or John Wayne Gacy. However, Gorburger throws out all kinds of quotes, and these deviate, and the game ends in a sort of convoluted tie.

Next up is a round of cornhole. But this isn’t the cornhole you see at the beach, picnics, barbecues, and frat parties. No, this involves throwing a corncob and attempting to land it in a certain human orifice. Suffice it to say The Gorburger Show amps up its ridiculousness. Pemberton is remarkably adept at getting the corncobs in their proper holes. There’s a particularly hilarious moment when Pemberton recalls a moment from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner (hey, it might not be a classic, but it’s better than Waterworld).

The ending gets even wackier and cleverly calls back to the beginning of the episode. It’s a neat touch that brings everything full circle. Although I enjoyed most of “Grizzlebub’s Day,” the cornhole game felt a bit too much as if it aimed for pure shock value rather than witty writing. Still, this segment did set up my favorite moment, the reference to Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. What can I say? I’m a sucker for cultural references! There’s solid chemistry between Woods and Pemberton which makes for an entertaining dynamic. While Woods is more earnest, Pemberton is willing to ham it up.

Discussing Grizzlebub further expands Gorburger’s backstory and fosters the sense of an entire universe. I like this and the continued snippets from Gorburger’s past. There’s even a hymn to Grizzlebub with lines like “Who’s the baddest god of all? Grizzlebub, Grizzlebub, heed his call. The gutting is upon is, Grizzlebub wants your guts for dinner.” Pemberton reacts with “This is hyperbole, right?”

As The Gorburger Show continues, its lampoon of talk shows continues and levels up.

SCORE
6.0/10