Childrens Hospital: The Funniest Show You've Never Heard Of

By Grabbo /

During the writers' strike of yonder year, comedian/actor Rob Corddry (The Daily Show, Hot Tub Time Machine) penned a webseries by the name of Childrens Hopsital. Fast forward to 2013 and it is now into its fifth season on Adult Swim, a cult hit and one of the highest rated shows on NetFlix. And no, that is not a grammatical error- I meant Childrens. A satirical comedy that pokes fun at everything from ER to House to Grey's Anatomy- and a keen eyed viewer will note that Childrens bares a striking resemblance to Sacred Heart, it is a show radically different from anything else on television in that it discards all pretense of trying to be serious and believable, or even plausible. It's just a show full of jokes with a hospital in the background. The titular name refers to the surname of Arthur Childrens, a Ghost spirit played by Jon Hamm that haunts the very hospital he founded. Yes, really. The Hospital is frequently mentioned to be located in Brazil also, despite the very North American characters and the setting looking a lot like California. It is wacky ideas like these that the show is built on, and one of the many things that make Childrens the one hospital everybody should check into. So, why should you watch it? To put it bluntly it is just mental, borderline nonsense. A collection of outlandish characters in equally crazy situations who also stop to be doctors every now and again- as Rob Heubel (Dr. Owen Maestro) puts it "We might as well be in outer space. It's really just like an insane, absurd show." The most notable of these characters is Dr. Blake Downs, played by Corddry himself. His philosophy on medical practice is based solely around the healing power of medicine, which he embodies with clown make up and trying to cure cancer with rubber chickens and some of the worst jokes you've ever heard. He also always wears blood stained scrubs which (up to this point at least) never referred to let alone explained. Aside from Heubel and Corddry, Childrens is teeming with talent you'll be thinking its Facebook with all these People You May Know. Deep breath: Jon Hamm (Mad Men, 30 Rock), Megan Mullally (Will and Grace, Party Down), Ken Marino (Party Down), Lake Bell, Malin Akerman, Henry Winkler, Ed Helms, Nick Offerman, and Lizzy Kaplan. Michael Cera almost goes unnoticed as the Announcer that regularly punctuates the action with random and hilarious interjections through the intercom, and later takes a more significant role without giving too much away. It's not just the characters that make the show, but also its scope. Not content with riddling the medical procedural drama with holes, in a few episodes it also parodies the documentary by looking at fictional actors that play the likes of Blake Downs in Louis La Fonda's NewsReaders. It also ribs the networks' shameless plugging of their own shows as Blake Downs, M.D is advertised during season one. It's a show that even laughs at itself. In a nut shell, it is a show that is built around parody, random comedy to the point of being ridiculous and is wonderfully realised by a cast that look like they're having as much fun making it as you will watching it. And if you still need convincing, each episode has a short and sharp run time of 11 minutes. So make yourself a brew, break out the chocolate Digestives and give it a go. If you're not already half way through the first season half an hour later, you're probably Simon Cowell. To make it even easier, you can catch the first season on YouTube. Do you watch Childrens? Are you a fan? Or not? Let us know in the comments below!