The best way to describe Comedy Central's TV Funhouse would have to be a show that feels like a combination between Greg the Bunny and the sappy children's TV show host that was Al Yankovic's rival in the Weird Al Show, with a lot of "simply wrong" thrown in... if you know the references. Basically, Comedy Central's TV Funhouse is hosted by a man named Doug, who is a typical children's TV show host, overly cheery and very child-like. In addition to Doug, the show features a group of animals, but real and puppet, called, the "Anipals." While Doug is very child-like and simple, the Anipals are very self-centered and are driven by more animalistic desires. Just think of them as the "wrong crowd."
The show always opens with a series of "still" images of Doug's trip to the Funhouse. It's actually video, not still images, but Doug stays motionless in them, making it look like a series of still images... sort of... and it give TV Funhouse that something's-not-quite-right feel from the very beginning. At some point in this intro, Doug buys a box containing his costume-of-the-day, which is the theme of the show that time. There were only eight episodes, so the complete list of these days is: Western Day, Hawaiian Day, Christmas Day, Mexican Day, Caveman Day, Safari Day, Astronaut Day and Chinese New Years Day. Doug's celebration of these days is never joined by the Anipals, who take the first opportunity to skip out on him, for the lamest and most unlikely of reasons - which Doug whole-heartedly believes. Furthermore, his celebrations are fraught with inaccuracies, racial stereotypes and utter foolishness, such as when Doug was celebrating Mexican Day and ordered an authentic Mexican meal from Applebee's, of all places, and had it delivered so he could meet an actual Mexican.
Thankfully, most of the time on the show is actually spent following the Anipals on their wayward and ill-planned outings. Their antics are filthy and lewd, but at least they're more entertaining than that freak, Doug. On Western Day, they head off to Tijuana, Mexico, where Chickie gets introduced to the wrong end of a cock fight and they all wind up in a Mexican bordello, taking turns on live dogs. Disturbing. On Hawaiian Day, Doug has a luau by himself, while the Anipals rescue Chickie's wayward son from a cult. On Christmas Day, Doug arrives at the Funhouse set filled with "Christmas Joy," which the Anipals decide must have some street value, since it is behavior-altering. The Anipals give Doug an impromptu spinal tap and drain him of his "Christmas Joy" and later, with the help of Chickie's nerdiest son, concentrates it into a snortable substance. The chick catches on fire in the process, but no one seems to care. On Mexican Day, Doug celebrates by drinking tequila with his news friends: the Applebee's delivery guy and the worm from the tequila bottle. Meanwhile, the Anipals try to run a stud scam with a rare African lizard who, unfortunately, seems to only be interested in inter-special affairs. Caveman Day finds Doug building a dinosaur skeleton out of barbecue ribs. The Anipals, meanwhile, swap preposterous New Years' resolutions in a steam room then decide to lose their towels. Rocky, the fish-out-of-water (literally) takes a class on a field trip to a bakery and has to be doused with water repetitively to stay alive. On Safari Day, the Anipals skip out and head for Atlantic City, where they gamble, go to strip clubs and hang out with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and Robert Goulet. Doug celebrates Astronaut Day, but the Anipals are still off in Atlantic City. Chinese New Year's Day finds Doug celebrating Chinese New Years in a horribly stereotyped and racist way. Meanwhile, the Anipals give up the Funhouse for careers in animal testing labs.
The cartoons shown in the series include Wonderman, a spoof of Superman where the superhero cares more about getting his alter ego laid than he does about actually fighting crime, "Fetal Scooby Dooby Doo" and "Stedman," a secret-agent-esque animated comic featuring Oprah's husband as a secret agent who uses her money and avoids her advances, among others. There are also recurring mnemonics educational films that are simply wrong. And then, of course, there is "Porn for Kids." I rest my case.
TV Funhouse is a spin-off from the original shorts shown on Saturday Night Live, but these venture off, directly, into poor taste. If you're not offended by something in this series, you weren't paying attention. I think there is a reason that this series only had eight episodes. I think there was probably a very good reason.
