Recently, I bought a copy of the two episodes of Next!, the unaired Bob Odenkirk sketch comedy pilot for Fox. (By recently, I mean January. I'm a little stuck for things to write about at the moment, so sue me.) It's a fairly funny show, although obviously not even close to the quality of Mr. Show. It was vaguely reminiscent of a faster paced Ben Stiller Show, heavy on pop culture parodies rather than the absurdist sketches that Mr. Show (and Python) relied upon.

Highlights included a R&B singer (played by Jerry Minor) singing a ballad to the American flag (then getting caught in bed with the Panamanian flag), a reverse parody of "Inside the Actor's Studio" with Fred Armisen as a condescending German interviewer who insults his guests, and a progressively more ridiculous series of ads for drugs with severe side effects. The format was a little awkward - the sketches are broken up into three or four segments that repeat throughout the show, which hurts the comedic rhythm of some of the scenes. Both episodes also have a Weekend Update-esque fake newscast that doesn't really work. But it was a lot funnier than any sketch comedy out there right now (with the notable exception of "Chappelle's Show"), and it's a shame that Odenkirk didn't get a chance to fully develop the show.