Webisode Clack – Space Hospital

This week we return to the comedy of the absurd with Space Hospital. Although,  I’m not sure absurd is really the word to describe it. It’s so unbelievably bizarre at every turn, that I struggled to find a good way to describe it. The best I came up with? Imagine that Red Dwarf and LEXX had a baby, and it was batshit crazy. And now you get to watch it go through puberty. That gets you in the ballpark where the Space Hospital team plays. And it is a hell of a game to watch.

The Red Dwarf lineage is particularly evident right off the bat. This is TV so bad that it’s good. From the hokey special effects to the cheesy props, it’s all done with such commitment that you can’t help but admire it. And, oh yeah, it’s funny too. If it was just a spoof of early radio serials and cheesy sci-fi, it would be solid. But it gets even better. There is an entire backstory to the show that is just so inventive. If you’re at all curious about the show, please go read the about page on the website. I’m ready to sign up for the second season, coming this fall, just to hear more about the world.

I should probably tell you a bit about the plot of the series, but I’m not sure how to go about it without sounding like a rambling lunatic. There is so much jammed in there, and half of it is completely off the wall. It gets so crazy that by the time the apes show up on the telecom … you know, the apes that run Ape Hospital, obviously … it seems kind of normal. Really, you have lizard aliens that call the hospital and sing “We Three Kings” … a bionic tennis player that runs off with the half-man, half-robot, baby … cloning gone awry … mob rule that leads to the stoning of readers … and a cliffhanger that revolves around an unknown assassin. It’s crazy!

But crazy in all the good ways. I think we can chalk much of that up to the fact that the creators, Sigurd Ueland and Robert Poe, have backgrounds in sketch comedy and improv. Normal, run-of-the-mill folk don’t think like this. But some of us certainly enjoy the things that come from those who do. If you liked Red Dwarf, or you liked LEXX, or you just like to see things that are off-the-rails nutty, you should definitely check out Space Hospital. You can learn more about the show, and watch all of season one, on the official website. There is also a sneak peek at season two on the show’s youtube channel. And of course, the Space Hospital crew is twitter and facebook friendly.

Here’s episode one, “Happiest Surgeon In Space,” to get you started. Finally, thanks to Robert Stadd of The Ballad Of Mary And Ernie for suggesting the show.

Clacked by Brett Love
on May 13, 2010 @ 11:00 EST5EDT