I’m actually not sure how obscure this show is exactly, since it was produced by Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla, but considering that it only ran for six episodes and I never hear anyone talk about it, I think it works for the blog. This is definitely going to be a more light-hearted entry, since this show is very silly and a fun time overall. It was also a nice reunion of sorts for me, as several of the people involved here made another show that I remember watching in my adolescence. I’ll explain that more later, but for now, I’ll give you a general impression of what the show is like.
Basically, Wanderlust is a mock travel show hosted by Gerhard Reinke, a quirky, enthusiastic, yet insecure German backpacker. Throughout these six episodes, he gets into many wacky and/or awkward scenarios like performing the “ping pong ball trick” at a Thailand strip club to pay his bill, getting herpes from kissing the Blarney Stone in Ireland, getting abducted by a militant group known as the P.U.B.E. (pronounced “pooh-bay”) in the Andes and directing their training film, coming face to face with Bigfoot in California, getting repeatedly attacked by a monkey in the Amazon, and almost getting his kidney stolen by a “medicine man” in Baja California. He often makes a fool of himself, whether he realizes it or not, but that doesn’t stop him from achieving such feats as overcoming his “pee shyness,” writing an erotic novel- I mean, great work of literature, and finding his great-grandfather, Helmut Reinke, an explorer who invented the first non-spurious dicking crème. You can expect a lot of goofy interactions, social faux pas, and slapstick humor on your journey with Gerhard, but I’ll let you see these funny moments for yourself. Moving on, here’s what I thought about the show.
I was initially drawn to check this show out because I noticed that the creators were Josh Gardner and Tom Stern, both of whom worked on an Adult Swim show I used to watch many years back: Saul of the Mole Men. For those who never saw it, it was basically an adult parody of the old Krofft Brothers shows from the 60s and 70s, especially Land of the Lost. It was rife with intentionally cheap effects and a mix of goofy, slapstick, sexual, and awkward moment humor. This spirit is very much present in Wanderlust, though presented in a different format, of course (Saul has a more traditional adventure show format, while Wanderlust is based in the travel show mold). I think it’s safe to say that if you like one of these shows, you’ll probably like the other, and it was fun to see where this style first came about (Wanderlust predates Saul by two years). It’s not the highest brow comedy that you’ll ever see, but if you’re in the mood for that sort of silliness, it’ll hit you just right. Gerhard is a classic type of character, a bumbling buffoon who tries to hide his incompetence and insecurity behind an enthusiastic façade, while also thinking he’s way more intelligent, perceptive, and overall better than he really is. I appreciate that the mockery in this show was at Gerhard’s expense more than it was at the expense of the local people he comes across. They do still have some fun with the foreign cultures (I mean, they named the Andean rebel group P.U.B.E., I think that says it all), but generally Gerhard is always made to be the “fool out of water,” if you will, so it doesn’t feel like the show is punching down too much. I have to admit, sometimes just the reaction shots of the locals towards Gerhard’s antics were enough to make me chuckle. I’ll be honest, I really don’t have too much to say about this show. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, it tickled my “silly bone” pretty well, but it’s not really the kind of work that has a lot to dig into. It’s the kind of show that you’re just meant to watch and have fun with rather than dissect or analyze too much. I guess my verdict is just that I enjoyed it, and that you should check it out if you think it sounds funny from what I’ve described. With that, let’s move on to my conclusion.
Yeah, so, this was a pretty short review, I’ll be honest. I guess I just felt like, after a certain point, I’d just be listing off moments I found funny rather than really getting into my thoughts. This just isn’t a very analytical show, so I recommend that you watch it for a fun viewing night, maybe with some friends that might be into this kind of odd silly humor. I apologize for the brevity of this entry, but next week is the big 100 for the blog, and I have something much more in-depth planned for it, so get ready for that. Until then, take an quirky trip around the world with Gerhard Reinke, and have a great two weeks, everyone.