Some of you may remember Super Deluxe, an “online platform for short-term comedy featuring established comedians and rising stars”. I personally remember seeing the logo around but I can’t quite pin down where exactly. It was originally part of TBS until it was quietly folded into adultswim.com in 2008, and taken offline later that same year. Among the contributors were big names such as Zach Galifianakis from the good Hangover movie, Aaron MacGruder of Boondocks, and Brad Neely, of South Park and China, IL. They were also responsible for my least favorite comedians, Tim and Eric. However, Super Deluxe is back, as of October of last year, and making new content.
Today (or tonight, depending on when you read this I suppose), I will be examining one of their new web-series: Future You, a Sci Fi comedy anthology. Is this the kind of content that will help Super Deluxe stick around this time? Or will it be weird, Tim and Eric bullshit that I don’t find funny but other people inexplicably do? Or maybe a third thing? Let’s find out!
https://youtu.be/VOSIdIvLEzY
Our first video asks a question that has probably crossed the minds of all of us at some point: What if we could talk to our future self, 25 years in the future? The premise is that this technology exists, as a cell phone app no less, and our protagonist has decided to use this to find out if he should propose to his girlfriend.
One thing that bothered me a little was how frustratingly vague the future version was when referencing what caused the problems in his life. The entire plot could have been avoided if he had just specifically addressed whether or not he should propose to his girlfriend, the reason he was being contacted in the first place. Then again, that would have prevented them from teaching the moral of the story, which I suppose is not to overthink things, because you might miss out on something great. Or possibly that people in the future are dicks who will try to trick you into not proposing to your future wife? I would think future dude would be doing everything in his power to help his younger self, but he seems borderline hostile.
Overall rating 5 grumpy future guys out of 10
This next video is about a pair of twins who are both on the verge of turning 30, and their father, who appears to have issues with violent mood swings. The girl, Amy, is a successful surgeon that has learned how to transplant heads. The boy, George, is a slacker who plays video games and smokes weed all day. Because obviously playing video games makes you a loser. Anyway, in this world, when you turn 30 you are given a grade by an elderly woman in an inexplicable military uniform. What isn’t explained is what this grade means. Amy seems to be leading an extremely successful life even without this grade so it can’t be that important. When George does end up passing, just barely, his father, who until that point essentially treated him with a contempt bordering on fairy tale stepmother levels, changes his personality completely, shushing his brilliant sister and heaping praise on George, despite him doing absolutely nothing to alter his slacker ways. The message of this piece is supposed to be that everyone matters, even slackers. To me it felt like the message was that you accomplishments are meaningless and there is no point in trying because you will get the same amount of respect regardless of whether you just barely pass or save thousands of lives with an amazing medical brrakthrough.
I give this one a 2 inexplicable military uniforms out of 5
https://youtu.be/_3-RSQ2ZIec
The third video in the series thus far is about a woman who goes to a remote community to escape embarassment from an online video. Right away, nothing in this video seems like Science Fiction. All of this could conceivably happen in the present day. Another weakness: one of the supporting characters in an unrepentant homophobe (There is also a racist, but he only has one line). It is brought up and never really addressed again and presumably she still hates gay people. The big reveal at the end is that the leader of the community was the former head of a suicide cult. He gives a big speech acknowledging his past and delivering the moral of this video: that you shouldn’t judge people on their past. The problem with this one, is that it cuts away immediately afterward to the girl leaving so we never find out whether or not anything bad happened to the community. Did he poison everyone again? Were they right to trust him? And in my opinion, not judging people on their past only applies to people who jave made some effort not to repeat it. As far as we know, the racist is still racist, the homophobe is still homophobic they’re just in a place where people aren’t allowed to call then out on how shit they are.
I give this one 3 unbroken cinder blocks out of 5
So overall, I must say these videos aren’t my thing. The production values are great the acting is pretty good, I just can’t get past the flawed premises. That’s not to say no one will enjoy them, in fact the comments seem to be overwhelmingly positive, so maybe I’m just too much of a cynical nitpicker to enjoy them. I would recommend checking them out for yourself, or some of the other videos on the channel, which I liked a lot better.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to ask my future self if I should eat this expired burrito.
