By Cody Hibbard–

Ever wondered what a cross between the movie “Office Space” and television series “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” would look like? Comedy Central’s new series, “Workaholics,” may provide some insight into the idea. “Workaholics” brings an interesting spin to comedy in the workplace. The three main characters, Blake, Anders and Adam are former college roommates in transition to adulthood. Fresh out of college and still living in the college lifestyle mind frame, their jobs are the least of their worries.

The three obtained their roots in comedy from producing several Internet sensation videos on their website, Mailordercomedy.com. From there, the idea for a series began to grow.

When Comedy Central entered the picture, it proved to be a perfect fit. Comedy Central allowed the group to control the creative process and in doing so, provided the creators with more freedom in their writing. When asked what percentage of the show is improvised versus scripted, Blake responded, “I would say 79 percent scripted, the rest of the math improv.” This freedom in the creative process has led to outlandish and provocative material that other networks may have discouraged.

The material stems mostly from real life situational humor that of course is spiced up for television. These scenarios help to make the characters seem more realistic. Incorporating details from their real life makes the show more relatable to its audience. Two members of the cast, Blake and Anders, as well as director Kyle Newacheck spoke with The Louisville Cardinal via conference call and explained that while the show adheres to a very detailed and strict script, it also allows room for improvisation. This type of format translates to not only a more comedic feel, but also a more natural feel to the scenes. Being able to let loose and shoot scenes with varying ideas allows for the truly funny material to prevail.

While the cast members take their work seriously (no pun intended), the conversation often drifted to unrelated topics. They were funny throughout though, and their extraneous comments only showcased their ability to improvise and get laughs in any circumstance. When asked about their luck with the ladies since the show aired, Anders quipped, “Yeah, my long-time girlfriend and soon to be wife and I are banging a lot more.” Blake, whose outrageous hairstyle has been one of the focal points of the series, responded, “if any of you have hair like mine and a chick thinks you are me, I give you my permission to say you’re me if it helps you get laid.”

The first season laid the foundation for what is to come from this series. The pooh dollar bit, journeys for clean urine and rapping wizards are examples of their juvenile antics. Don’t be put off by this type of adolescent humor; it definitely makes sense to a mature audience. Throughout the first season the characters began to develop a certain sense of personality within the group. Adam brings pure ridiculousness and stupidity. Blake is more off beat and mild-mannered, while Anders contributes misguided and inaccurate wisdom.

The second season is just underway and these antics continue. While drinking on a playground, Adam and Blake learn about taxes and how they are used to pay for public services. With this new found knowledge they find it necessary to take various objects from the playground, since they paid for it, including a giant dragon figure and sand. Special guest appearances have been made in each of the new season’s episodes and viewers can expect more. The creative mixture has seemed to brew up a successful series. It will be interesting to see what wild and quirky situations the group finds themselves in throughout the rest of the season.

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Photo courtesy Comedy Central