The Eric Andre Show

The Eric Andre Show
Genre	Surreal comedy and hidden camera
Created by	Eric Andre
Written by	Eric Andre Kitao Sakurai Andre Barchilon Dan Curry Derrick Beckles Rory Scovel Heather Anne Campbell Doug Lussenhop Pat Regan Jake Weisman
Directed by	Kitao Sakurai Andrew Barchilon
Presented by	Eric Andre
Starring	Eric Andre Hannibal Buress
Narrated by	Gary Anthony Williams Tom Kane Robert Smith
Opening theme	"Happy Happening" by Mathieu Blossier (seasons 1–3) "Bebop Bounce" by Andrea Litkei & Ervin Litkei (season 4)
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	40 (+2 specials) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Eric Andre Kitao Sakurai Andrew Barchilon Dave Kneebone
Running time	11 minutes
Production company(s)	Abso Lutely Productions Sick Duck Productions Working for Monsters (2012–13) Naked Faces Williams Street
Distributor	Warner Bros. Television
Release
Original network	Adult Swim
Picture format	4:3 SDTV (2012) 16:9 HDTV (2013–present)
Original release	May 20, 2012 (2012-05-20) – present
Chronology
Related shows	Mostly 4 Millennials
External links
Website

The Eric Andre Show is an American surreal comedy television series on Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. The show premiered in the United States on May 20, 2012, and is a parody of low-budget public-access talk shows. The series is hosted by comedian Eric Andre, along with comedian Hannibal Buress, who serves as Andre's sidekick.^[1][2] Gary Anthony Williams served as the announcer in the first season, being replaced by Tom Kane in the second season and Robert Smith from the third season onwards.

A total of 40 episodes have aired over the course of four seasons. On December 31, 2012, The Eric Andre Show aired a 45-minute live New Year's special, titled The Eric Andre New Year's Eve Spooktacular. A second special, named "Eric Andre Does Paris", aired on February 18, 2018.^[3]

There are plans for a fifth season.^[4]

Premise

Every opening of the show starts with an announcer saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, it's The Eric Andre Show!" while Andre destroys the backdrop, desk, and various furnishings as the opening song is played by the stage band. Everything is restored to its prior condition immediately by off-camera stagehands and the music stops. Usually, Andre, after destroying the set, starts a speech that turns critical and aggressive, with Buress often providing commentary on it.

Besides the main focus being inside the studio, short sketches, candid camera footage, and non sequiturs, usually focused on Andre's absurd behavior in extemporaneous settings, are frequent throughout the program.^[5][6] A freeze-frame interstitial stating "We'll Be Right Back" occurs at the end of every on-stage segment, usually at an inconvenient time. After this, no continuity is maintained at all; Andre always appears in successive segments of the show ignorant of, or unharmed by, any prior events.

At the end, a performer of some type plays over the ending credits. Ending performances are usually parodies of amateur acts common to public access television, while other times are musicians playing their music except with heavy twists, such as powerviolence band Trash Talk playing while wearing volume sensitive shock collars. Mac DeMarco also once played while Andre initiated a segment styled after Japanese game shows titled "Attack DeMarco!", where numerous samurais entered the stage and began tormenting DeMarco.

Guest stars appear throughout the show, with a number of them being faked with impersonators or random people, including Jerry Seinfeld, Russell Brand, George Clooney, The Hulk, Beyonce, Arnold Schwarzenegger (portrayed by Bruce Vilanch) and Jay-Z. Later, more actual celebrities appeared, including musicians (Tyler, the Creator, Pete Wentz, Devendra Banhart, Wiz Khalifa, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, Chance the Rapper, Dave Koz, Mac DeMarco), actors (Ryan Phillipe, Krysten Ritter, James Van Der Beek, Dolph Lundgren, Chris Jericho), or 1980s/1990s television stars (Sinbad, Tatyana Ali, Lorenzo Lamas, Jodie Sweetin), although other guests have appeared, including fashion designer Lauren Conrad, actor Seth Rogen, talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, and adult film actress Asa Akira.^[7]

Development and production

The show was partly influenced by Space Ghost Coast to Coast, a series that previously aired on Cartoon Network and later Adult Swim.^[8] Andre had said that prior to shooting the first season, he rewatched several episodes of it to "absorb as much Space Ghost as [he] could". Andre also asked many questions to the show's creator, who, according to Andre, had no interest in the old show.^[8]

Andre, who was also known for his role as Mark Reynolds on the ABC sitcom Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 when the series launched, was warned by ABC network executives not to mention the series on The Eric Andre Show, as they did not want to create an association between the two shows. According to Andre, several cast and crew members on Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 were not even aware of the existence of Adult Swim when explaining to them The Eric Andre Show.^[8] Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 was later cancelled in January 2013.^[9][10] In April 2013, it was announced that The Eric Andre Show had been renewed for another season, with a few of his former co-stars from the ABC show making appearances as guests.^[11]

During season 1, the principal photography was done in an abandoned bodega in California.^[12][13] The painting of red rectangles in the set decoration also serves as the logo, emulated on the screen titling during shots with the band. The show is shot using old vacuum-tube cameras, background music often from stock media, and low-budget titling effects to make it feel like a public-access show from the 1980s. All of the opening sequences for the show were filmed at the end of the shoot all at once over two and a half days. After being sick earlier in the week, Andre commented, "Fuck, it takes so much energy to break the set for that long." The desk at which Andre sits is constructed of drywall to make it easier to break during skits.^[14] A jazz band plays on the set during the introduction and transitions. Shots of the band are mostly pre-recorded with a few spoken lines and callbacks during on-stage skits.

With season 2, The Eric Andre Show changed to an HD camera setup, a new set design, and a new announcer. Because of the difficulties with gaining consent under California's regulations, some of the impromptu and hidden camera sketches had to be re-recorded in New York City. Andre also admitted to using tactics on real celebrities to make them visibly uncomfortable during the taping without informing them, such as putting "old, rotten clams under their seat before they come out, or heat ducts in their seats so they're just sweltering."^[15] The studio space is un-airconditioned. Andre said this is because the studio's airconditioning is too loud to run while filming, but it has the added effect of making the guests feel uncomfortable which is in line with the show's theme.^[16]

Episodes

Cast

Both host Eric Andre and co-host Hannibal Buress play exaggerated caricatures of themselves, with Andre being consistently eccentric, dysfunctional, violent and psychotic whilst Buress serves as a relative straight man to Andre's antics, despite usually acting as bizarre as him. Andre consistently overacts during interviews, acts aggressively towards his crew members, diverts from the script, strips naked whenever given the opportunity and overall sets out to make his guests feel as uncomfortable as possible (all of which is intended acting, nevertheless, a tactic used on celebrity guests to show the distinctions between each of their reactions to the environment of the set).^[1] Although just as outlandish, Buress is less of an oddity than Andre and usually ends up correcting Andre's mistakes, shaming him on stage. Since there are only two chairs on the set, Buress ends up giving away his seat when a guest appears, awkwardly lingering next to them and attempting to unnerve them alongside his co-host. The announcer has been voiced by three different actors: Gary Anthony Williams during season 1, Tom Kane during season 2, and Robert Smith from season 3 onward. Other than the introduction, they typically announce only during one-off game segments on the show.

The house band is also notable for regular participation in the show. The initial house band was on the show from season 1 to season 3, and consisted of Tom Ato as the guitarist, Early McAllister as the saxophonist, Pfelton Sutton as the drummer (who is almost always tackled during the show's opening), Jerry Wheeler as the trombonist, and Adora Dei as the keyboardist. The bassist changed frequently, being portrayed by Karen Elaine in season 1, JV Smith in season 2, and RJ Farrington in season 3. This entire band was replaced at the start of season 4 with a group of elderly men, including Don Peake as the guitarist, Emilio Palame as the keyboardist, Harold Cannon as the singer, Oscar Rospide as the bassist, and Tony Katsaras as the drummer. Semere-Ab Etmet Yohannes has also portrayed Russell Brand in several episodes. John Bueno, Jermaine Fowler, Roy Subida, Pat Regan, Vanessa Burns, Byron Bowers, and Buddy Daniels Friedman have all made recurring appearances as crew members throughout various seasons.

Live tours

The Eric Andre Show Live was a touring production of The Eric Andre Show in live venues that were booked during the airing of the first season of the show in 2012.^[17] The tour was extended through September 21, 2012 with four additional east coast venues added to the schedule.^[18] A follow-up tour was scheduled for November 2013.^[19]

Home release

The first four seasons have been released on iTunes and Amazon Video. The first four seasons, as well as the New Year's special, are also available on Hulu.^{[20][21][22][23]}

References

External links

• The Eric Andre Show at Adult Swim
• The Eric Andre Show on IMDb
• The Eric Andre Show at TV.com