3 out of 5

Created by: Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim

It’s probably wrong saying this, since Tim and Eric have built a career out of non-humor, and shows that thwart any kind of expectations you could possibly thrust upon them, but Tim and Eric’s Bedtime Stories held amazing promise… which it never felt like it capitalized on post its first couple of episodes.  It’s something that will probably benefit from re-views, after having a better idea of what the show would turn out to be, but it did feel like we had a proper initiation with the ‘Halloween special,’ which the Bedtime Stories series seemed to initially follow up on thematically, so I don’t think its so strange to then feel slightly turned around by the show quickly reverting back to Tim and Eric style hijinks.  Basically, we were pitched a horror or, at least, darker show, something promoted by the ominous title screen and initial episode ‘Hole’ – which was very bleak and a pretty amazing avoidance of comfort zones – and second episode ‘Toes,’ which took notes from the Halloween special to combine some genre notes with the duo’s goofier sensibilities.  Which, to be fair, is something that was explored on Awesome Show on occasion, but it was interesting seeing the boys pop up in some indie move fare at the same time as pursuing a new show a little further off of the non-beaten path they’d been treading previously.  So when the third and fourth episodes – Bathroom Boys and Angel Boy – felt moreso like extended Awesome Show bits, the mystique that was building (an enviable sense of viewing ‘new’ territory that I also experienced when seeing Tom Goes to the Mayor or the first Awesome Show seasons) fading despite some of the latter episodes – the hilariously weird Jason Schwartzman starring ‘The Endorsement’ and closer ‘Baby’ – resurrecting it slightly.

So this satiated for a T&E fix, especially in the wake of the Billion Dollar movie, which I felt was lackluster.  The overall quality of the show was high, perhaps due to the short season, but the stirrings of genius of which Tim and Eric are certainly capable, of thwarting expectations, sort of floundered as they fell back on old gags.