Review: Animals “The Trial.”

Was this really needed?

Overview (Spoilers Below)

While the real Mike and Phil appear to be going off the rails, their rat counterparts are gearing up for the trial of the century to determine whether Adam Sandler or Jim Carrey was the most important comedic icon of the 90’s. Here are the litigants of the case:

Phil Matarese: Phil makes the case for Jim Carrey being the 90s comedic icon that is most important. Evidence includes Liar, Liar, The Truman Show, Me, Myself and Irene and a slew of others are presented all the while making the best attempt to belittle Sandler’s equally illustrious career.

Mike Luciano: Mike’s case showcases the likes of such popular Sandler fare as Big Daddy, Airheads (!!!!!), The Waterboy, and a bunch of others.

Mike eventually becomes the victor despite the fact that Phil had the consultative counsel coming from noted OJ attorney, Marcia Clark. A celebration is had, and the bailiff gets a running gag where he’s also the bartender and the security guard that breaks up a fight between Phil and Mike at a local bar.

Our Take

Usually, when you’ve got a serial episodic series on hand, a trial is a climax or culmination of two parties having such differing opinions that it just had to be settled in court. In this case, we had a glimpse of a budding rivalry between Mike and Phil concerning the Sandler vs Carrey debate, but that was all the way in episode one. Since then, we’ve had a far more compelling storyline concerning the orb and talking “stuff” and that whole bit, so I’m not sure a trial that begs your knowledge of 90’s nostalgic film classics. I would’ve liked to have seen more of an attempt at guest stars that may have appeared in any of the aforementioned films and, obviously, some sort of guest appearance from the two comedy legends in question. Moreover, I think a televised debate would’ve been a more prudent setting than a court trial due to the fact that it’s election season and probably could’ve played a bit closer to today’s sensibilities, but I digress. “The Trial”  is an interesting idea, one that I don’t think was as fleshed out as it could’ve been and sticks out like a thumb in a season of strong output.