Critic Reviews

No summary description begins to capture the inspired silliness of “With Bob and David.” But one thing is certain: Television is way funnier “With Bob and David” than without them.

Beyond reference points and sermons for the converted, With Bob And David is a hilarious triumph on its own merits.

[An] edgy gem. [13 Nov 2015, p.55]

Terrific sketch comedy: absurd, inventive, surprising, and just damn funny.

You're not likely to find better sketch comedy on TV. It's a shame there are only four episodes.

It's not that W/ Bob and David feels safe exactly, but as welcome as it is to see seasoned professionals team up together to make with the funny, it's hard not to mourn, just a bit, the fact that more chances could have been taken.

At times endearingly old-fashioned (montages of whirling newspaper headlines), sometimes scatalogical (a time-machine toilet), occasionally blasphemous ("Turkey Jesus"), and totally irreverent (Odenkirk as "Pope Jonah Abromowitz.") The tone can get pointed (Cross as a filmmaker who's such an apologist for slavery he refuses to call it that, instead using the term, "helperism"), but the mood stays buoyant.

Bob, David, and company aren’t as interested in pushing the edge of the envelope as they were twenty years ago, but their entertaining return illustrates how a comedian’s shelf life often comes down to craftsmanship, not provocation. So call W/ Bob and David a spiritual sequel, a reboot, or a reincarnation, it doesn’t matter: Bob and David’s comedy science is still plenty tight.

Despite the 17 years that have passed since the end of “Mr. Show,” the format still works and the guys are still funny, despite not doing much to get with the times.

While it is funny, sometimes very funny, it also has the quality of a gift--a gift from the artists to themselves and one another as much as to their audience.