Young comedians turn to Web site
Michael Cera and Clark Duke's web TV show, "Clark and Michael," cuts against the current wave of television epics in favor of a stripped down and off beat performance.
For those of you still mourning the end of "Arrested Development" in 2006, there's a little-known show on the Internet that's bound to cheer you up. Clarkandmichael.com features all the deliciously uncomfortable, clever humor of the cancelled Fox series and stars real-life best friends Michael Cera (Evan, Superbad and George Michael, "Arrested") and Clark Duke, whose brand of comedy both resembles pioneers such as Andy Kaufman, and treads new waters in its depth. The Web site's 10 episodes, which last between eight and 12 minutes apiece, are completely hysterical. Cera, 19, and Duke, 22, play aspiring scriptwriters on their own reality show. The show chronicles their attempts to sell their script in Los Angeles (no network execs ever like it), pass driver's education class and make friends. Episodes are punctuated by their catfights, blank stares into the camera and drunken, emotional outbursts. Awkward doesn't begin to describe Cera in this role. In episode five, Cera's crush, a single mom in his driver's ed class, tells an endearing story about her four-year-old daughter. In perfect comedic timing, less than a second after she finishes the story, Cera turns to her and asks loudly, "Did you breast-feed her?" No one moves, the camera stays still on Cera's grinning face for a few uncomfortable seconds and then cuts immediately to the next scene.
Equally funny is a later scene where the two wander into a video store. Cera calmly asks the clerk if they carry episodes of "Touched by Angel," but when the clerk responds in the negative, Cera breaks into a tantrum and knocks down a video rack. Duke comforts him as they leave.
During a meeting with their agent in episode four, the agent tells them their script is offensive to Chinese people. Cera responds, deadpan, "Chinese people love controversy. We know that. Pearl Harbor." This scene is priceless for Duke. As the agent continues to call him "Michael," Duke makes agitated eye contact with the camera.
Duke also particularly shines in episode five, when he discovers that a network stole his idea for a television show, "D.A. Dad." He loses his temper and storms into his lawyer's office, demanding retribution.
According to the Web site, Cera and Duke co-wrote the episodes, and Duke directed the first one for his senior thesis at Loyola Marymount University. CBS then financed the shows online.
The Internet is crawling with series like this one. More and more networks-ABC, NBC, MTV-are putting their shows online these days. But Cera and Duke stand out for their fantastically irreverant and offbeat performances.
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