It is no secret that reality television has become one of the lowest forms of entertainment on an already disrespected medium.
It is a genre defined by D-list celebrities and of the public humiliating themselves on national broadcasts for cash prizes. But despite being intellectually despicable, it can also be inexplicably addictive. While shows such as Fear Factor and The Apprentice are carefully planned and edited, they are presented in a way that gives the illusion of spontaneous reality, and for that reason they make for undeniably compulsive viewing. Comedy programming has benefited from the sudden popularity of reality TV, as it is a genre that relies on simplicity.
Funny is funny, and overcomplicating a joke can ruin the impact. Tom Green and the cast of Jackass were the first to exploit the “reality concept” for comedic value and created a sort of sub-genre of frat-prank reality programming. These pioneers recognized that, for some reason, faking a seizure and covering oneself with mustard in a grocery store or jousting on BMX bicycles makes for bizarrely satisfying viewing.
Sure, movies such as Animal House have used this type of behavior for comedic effect before, but they are always created by relatively mature adults ing their embarrassing past. These new programs allow the lunatics to run the asylum and, in doing so, they manage to document the anarchistic nature of the young adult male psyche. Sure, not all of us feel the need to hump a dead moose on the road for laughs, but there are degrees of this behavior by the way … I’ve never fucked a moose, I swear!
The newest entry to this “men behaving badly” reality subgenre is the brilliant new show Kenny vs. Spenny. Like The Tom Green Show and Jackass before it, the concept is simple and barebones. Each week two best friends—named Kenny and Spenny, if you haven’t figured that out yet—engage in a competition and the loser performs a humiliation determined by the winner. The basic concept is not particularly compelling, but somehow the show manages to be consistently hilarious week after week. The success of Kenny vs. Spenny lies in the relationship of the two leads Kenny Hotz and Spencer Rice. The pair have known each other since childhood, and before they dreamed up the show, they collaborated on the feature-length documentary Pitch. Although they are friends, their personalities are polar opposites. Spenny believes in relying on hard work and determination to succeed. While Kenny—well, he just cheats, or as he put it during an interview with Conan O’Brien: “Spenny [may call] it cheating; I call it being a devious, cunning, you know, a diabolical genius.” And why would he qualify as a diabolical genius, you ask? Well, I’ll leave it at this: for a recent competition to determine “who is funnier,” Kenny sent Spenny a letter that appeared to be from the Ministry of Health stating that someone Spenny had sex with was recently diagnosed with HIV. Terrified that he may have contracted the virus, Spenny was unable to complete his stand-up routine for the judges, while Kenny submitted the whole prank as his entry for the competition and won. Cruel? Of course, but funny? Unbelievably so. The odd-couple nature of their friendship makes the duo a classic comedy team, with some people even dubbing the show “the first reality sitcom.” Kenny’s sarcastic wit and cruel sense of humour are perfectly balanced by Spenny’s unflinching moral code and many neuroses. While the individual contest ideas, such as “Who can drink the most beer before vomiting” or “Who can gain the most weight in a week,” would be funny in themselves, it is the relationship between the show’s leads that provides most of the laughs and defines the actual comedy. The humiliations that conclude every episode also add an element of gross-out comedy to the proceedings, with the “friends” forcing each other to engage in terrible acts such as eating vomit or peeing their pants on national television. So you see, there’s something in this show for every member of the family.
In addition to being the stars of the show, Hotz and Rice also direct each episode themselves. Coming out of documentary filmmaking, the pair are not only gifted comedians but also skilled storytellers. Each episode is carefully edited with perfect comic timing and brisk pacing. Using storytelling devices traditionally found in fictional film, such as slow motion and scoring, the pair makes their simple documentary format as technically ambitious and compelling as any fictional show. In fact, sometimes the program seems almost too perfect, and there is debate as to whether or not the show is actually “real.” Certainly much of it is, but it would not be surprising if some scripted material is created as filler for unsuccessful episodes. Both Hotz and Rice claim the show is completely unscripted, but they could easily be lying, and Kenny’s recent work on the writing staff of South Park is a little suspicious.
Still, real or not, the show is possibly the funniest thing on television at the moment, and … it’s Canadian. Although much Canadian comedy tends to be sterile, safe and unwatchable (cough Train 48 cough, cough) a few gems such as SCTV and The Tom Green Show have managed to slip through the cracks. Kenny vs. Spenny is definitely one of these special cases, and if it catches on could be quite a success. The show has already been poorly handled and eventually cancelled by the CBC, but was picked up by Showcase this year. This groundbreaking network gives the creators of television programs an almost HBO-like freedom over their material. The network’s breakout success Trailer Park Boys was a testament to the risk-taking, original, and personal style it encourages. It is the ideal home for a show as fresh, fun and gleefully offensive as Kenny vs. Spenny. Hopefully, the show will be embraced by the public in the same way the Trailer Park Boys has been; if not, it will undoubtedly become a lost comedy classic. So in conclusion: Kenny vs. Spenny airs Sundays at 9:30 p.m. on Showcase. Watch it, love it, and spread the word.
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