The voiceover master tries his hand at live-action comedy.
Chances are the average television viewer won’t recognize Jon Benjamin when he appears on screen in his new Comedy Central show, Jon Benjamin Has a Van. But as soon as he opens his mouth to speak, you will probably know his voice immediately. Jon Benjamin, or H. Jon Benjamin, as he’s sometimes known, has provided voices for virtually every cartoon of note for the past decade-plus. Benjamin’s dulcet tones have graced the likes of Dr. Katz, Home Movies (in my opinion, the best cartoon Adult Swim has ever done), The Venture Brothers, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Assy McGee (what a title!), Archer, American Dad, Family Guy, and Bob’s Burgers.
In Jon Benjamin Has a Van, Benjamin steps out of the recording booth and in front of the camera. While this isn’t his first foray in live-action television (he has briefly appeared in Upright Citizens Brigade, Rescue Me, Sex in The City, Human Giant, Parks and Rec, and Important Things With Demetri Martin), it does mark the first time he has been anything but a bit player on a live-action show.
Jon Benjamin Has a Van is, at least in theory I guess, sort of a parody of broadcast news shows. The titular Benjamin travels around in his titular van (a blue “rape van” with his names spray painted along the side) with his crew interviewing folks and putting together human interest-type news stories. Except this isn’t what the show really is. The fake-news show conceit is just a way for Benjamin to segue between bizarre, offbeat, and at times surreal, sketches and bits. Comedy Central has done fake-news shows before (The Daily Show, The Colbert Report) and it has also done shows about guys that travel around the country and ask people goofy questions (Insomniac with Dave Attell), yet Jon Benjamin Has a Van feels more akin to a show like Human Giant, or even Upright Citizens Brigade (both of which Benjamin has worked on). Unfortunately, JBHV isn’t nearly as funny as any of the aforementioned programs.
The ironic thing about JBHV is that, despite the presence of Benjamin’s well-known baritone, the show lacks a coherent voice. It’s hard to tell (at least from one episode) what kind of show it wants to be. Is it a satirical skewering of local newscasts? Is it an avant garde sketch comedy? Is it both? Neither? Most of the first episode is devoted to a sketch about Jon pushing his producer, Rob, (played by UCB’s Matt Walsh) over the border into Mexico. The skit gets increasingly stranger (but not necessarily funnier) as it goes along and climaxes with a shoot-out between a drug lord and Mexican federales. The bit is dragged out well beyond it’s logical conclusion and winds up being more tedious than funny. Benjamin is more successful when he keeps the sketches short and sweet, as he does with “Cash Stall” – a simple, yet effective parody of Cash Cab that takes place not in a taxi, but in a men’s bathroom.
By no means is JBHV an awful or offensively bad show, it’s just not quite sure of itself yet. There is a chance that Benjamin and company will figure things out and the show will be great. Probably a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless. In the meantime though, my suggestion would be to check out some re-runs of Archer or Home Movies if you are looking to get your Jon Benjamin fix.
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.