Chris Gethard on MNN Rewind as “The Chris Gethard Show” Launches on Fusion this Month

For four years, Chris Gethard knocked around the MNN halls and studios creating moments of madness, insanity, and hilarity with his fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants call-in variety show. Now making the leap from public access to cable, “The Chris Gethard Show” premieres on Fusion on May 28. To give Chris a proper MNN send-off, we’ve selected some of our favorite episodes from the MNN archives. Here they are, in random “TCGS” order:

“The Night of Zero Laughs”

The premise is simple—Chris stacks the panel with some of “the best comedians, musicians, filmmakers, and weirdos in all of New York City,” and if you laugh, you leave. So notorious that the premise became a “TCGS” tradition and inspired zero laughs episodes annually,we dare you to watch them all and play along at home.  Alongside Gethard’s panel of odd-ball regulars, Grizz Chapman from “30 Rock” and Bobby Moynihan of “Saturday Night Live” fame drop in to increase the mirth-making.  

“12 Hour 2012 Election Special Coverage”

“TCGS” entered the annals of NY public access television history by broadcasting the longest show to date—twelve hours of call-ins, comedians, musicians, and Gethard regulars, culminating with an Obama victory dance party.  Chris stays on the air for almost the entirety of the episode, but in one of his rare breaks, an eccentric audience member, Don, acts as co-host. A “TCGS” classic that takes binge-watching to a whole new level.

“Random Jean”

Emblematic of the show’s willingness to go wherever its audience leads, the episode features the journey of a caller named Jean, who innocently inquires about the direction of the show in its second episode. When Chris entices her to hop in a cab and join him in the studio, “Random Jean” gamely plays along, and in the process, establishes the “Random” regular on “TCGS.” Jean became a weekly fixture on the show, and when she moved away, Chris plucked another random audience member to take her spot.

“Sandwich Night”

We’ll let Chris explain this one: “With a depleted crew due to Thanksgiving Eve, we attempted to do a real laid back, easy going show. We figured we’d call is ‘Sandwich Night’ and have our crew, cast, and friends make and eat sandwiches on the air. Chaos erupted when over 100 people showed up, meaning our crew of exactly two people was immediately overwhelmed and overworked. What followed was a truly chaotic show focused on sandwiches, that also saw a hostile takeover by the Dolchnakov Brigade, Horatio Sanz manning a camera, a trip into the MNN control room, a video message from Presidential candidate Connor Ratliff, and the video account of Random Andrew’s blind date. A really fun, messy, episode that became an instant classic and immediately established Sandwich Night as an annual pre-Thanksgiving tradition.”

“The Kickboxer Episode”

Here it is, the episode that seems to appear on everyone’s “TCGS” favorites list. The crew and callers swap public transportation horror stories (including a call from Chris’ brother Greg, and regular Walter, the show’s “only fan”), while Chris takes the show’s hallmark physicality to the extreme by inviting kickboxer friend PJ to play the Body Shots game. Chris is quizzed with trivia questions about his cast, and faces a hit from PJ if he answers incorrectly.  The epitome of Gethard show cringe-worthiness.

A hot mess of funny, painful, thoughtful, disgusting, sad (did we mention “The Genuine Sadness Episode”), and perverse, “The Chris Gethard Show” is one of the most random shows to ever cross the MNN threshold.  Cheers to you and your crew Chris, and here's to countless more moments of unpredictable insanity and hilarity in your move to Fusion on May 28.