Bob Odenkirk’s Lost Pilot “Next!”

Today I was on the phone with a friend raving about the brilliance of the lost Bob Odenkirk sketch comedy pilot “Next!” I’d seen it once or twice at Other Network shows and loved it. Since everything is on YouTube (at least for now), I did a search and voila, three of the sketches from the two episodes made popped up. Here’s a look at what might have been:

First Jerry Minor as an R & B singer who pledges his allegiance to the American flag and its budonkadonk.

The next is a song that cleverly reverses “rebellious” rock into strict parental discipline. It parodies a Limp Biskit song, but it avoids being dated because its so apt - Odenkirk’s dad character is probably what rap-metal listeners will turn into one day.

Jay Johnston plays one dumb, dumb brother in a commercial for a family car dealership.

Every title that appears on screen of that one kills me - it’s this epic attention of detail that was a hallmark of Mr. Show as well. It’s that discipline to eek out the logical extremes of a joke that makes it so lamentable that it didn’t get picked up. Sigh.