The peculiar humor of ‘Delocated’ captures an intense fandom

“DELOCATED!: THE FIRST AND SECOND SEASONS”

DVD widescreen, 2009-2010, not rated, TV-14 for language and violence

Best extra: Jon Glaser's off-the-wall commentaries are tailor-made for fans

REMEMBER THE MYSTERY in last season’s cliffhanger of “The Office” – the one where a successor had to be chosen to succeed lead bumbler Michael Scott, the socially awkward boss who couldn't solve a problem if his life depended on it? The successor ‒ with indie-cred to spare ‒ was James Spader. But the producers took the character in a completely different, and unfortunate, direction. Still, if you’re looking for a Michael Scott fix, try turning to Jon Glaser, whose self-centered idiot persona in Cartoon Network’s “Delocated” may be the single most under-appreciated funnyman on television right now.

Glaser, who was a member of Chicago’s Second City improv troupe, went on to become a multiple Emmy nominee as a writer on “Late Night with Conan O'Brien.” He followed that with a short stint on the deeply disturbing fake children's show “Wonder Showzen” (with his production company, PFFR), before creating “Delocated!” for the Adult Swim block of programming on Cartoon Network. It's a story about “Jon,” an everyman whose wife and son are in the witness protection program and moved to New York City with him to be part of a sweeps-week reality show. (The entire family wears ski masks and carries devices that digitally alter their voices.) “Jon,”  who becomes a two-bit celebrity, grows quickly to enjoy his newfound fame, exploiting it at every opportunity.

At a passing glance, “Delocated!” is easy to dismiss as a YouTube knockoff – an inexpensive, single-camera style show revolving around a single person. But watch it from the beginning and you’ll be hooked by the improbable high jinks that “Jon” uses to solve his problems. As the show’s creator and writer, Glaser keeps the template very loose, allowing him to introduce crazy subplots every week without being a slave to continuity. The only real constants are “Jon’s” girlfriend Kim, whom he meets after his wife gets involved with a string of secret service agents assigned to protect the family; the doorman, Jay; and the Mirminsky family, the Russian mobsters who kill everyone around “Jon” to try and make him crack.

The fictitious network that airs “Delocated!” also produces a spinoff show around Yevgeny (Eugene Mirman), the sad sack of a man who fails not only as “Jon’s” assassin, but as a comedian. In a savage rip on actual Russian comedian Yakov Smirnov, Yvgeny thinks working the word “vodka” several times into his act is comic gold. The ink-black humor, meanwhile, is mostly provided by his brother Sergei (Steve Cirbus), a muscled, stone-cold killer who provides eerie menace amid the laughs. (In one scene, he smiles with approval as Yvgeny strangles actor Scott Wolf for getting the lead role in the show “Jewish Ghost.”) Recurring roles for talented comedians, such as Todd Barry (“Flight of the Conchords”), Andrew Daly (“Eastbound and Down”) and Jerry Minor (“Saturday Night Live”), greatly up the amusement factor. If extremely offbeat, off color comedy is your heart's desire, “Delocated!” could very well be a new favorite show.

The extras include a bevy of extended and deleted scenes that are best viewed, for contextual reasons, after watching the original episodes; the handmade short Glaser used to sell the idea to Cartoon Network, and two episode commentaries – one on the pilot by Glaser, and one with executive producer/director John Lee on an early second-season episode. On the first, Glaser sips Earl Grey tea throughout, constantly offering asides on how good it is for his throat while talking for less than a quarter of an hour. He also points out in-show homage’s to The Who’s album “Quadrophenia,” how the show moved away from reality show visual references (talking directly to the camera, for instance), and how the only time his ski mask in the pilot is not accidentally inside out are the few scenes that were spliced in from the demo reel.

On the second commentary, Glaser and Lee offer little in the way of information except for small tidbits (such as how the show is filmed in Brooklyn or why certain scenes were deleted). More surprisingly, they imitate Marlon Brando's performance in “The Godfather” throughout, simply because they feel like it. Annoying? Absolutely. But like the show, you may find that the longer you listen, the more the humor grows on you.

— Carl Hott

COMMENTS ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here; comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its websites. Users must follow agreed-upon rules: Be civil, be clean, be on topic; don't attack private individuals, other users or classes of people. Read the full rules here.
- Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the report violation link below it.