Season 4 of HBO's "Mr. Show" is particularly strong, with a number of original ideas and exceptionally funny sketches scattered over all 10 episodes. Stars Bob Odenkirk and David Cross are in good form from the season premiere's opening bit about medical marijuana--specifically, Cross's prescription to help him with the anxiety of working with Odenkirk. The duo also work a comic rivalry theme in a dueling bloopers sketch that includes "embarrassing" footage of Odenkirk as a male prostitute and Cross as a wannabe rock star.
But the best material is positively surreal, such as a "Jerry Springer"-like talk show taking place on a life raft, and a variation on "The Paper Chase" in which a curmudgeonly law professor (Michael McKean), suddenly called away from class after a ritual assault on his students' intelligence, is replaced by a less-articulate tyrant (Odenkirk). Also superb is a politically incorrect piece about two guys vying for a blind woman's affection via competing (and increasingly bizarre) descriptions of a sunset, and the "501st Olympics," pitting the Dalai Lama and his monks against fat kids from a summer camp. Special features include Bob and Dave's not-to-be-missed appearance at a "Comic Relief" cable special, in which a gullible Odenkirk bares all for the sake of his craft. "--Tom Keogh"