Rob and Big.
I stumbled across this MTV "reality show" on accident and instantly recognized it to be a modern comedy classic. "Rob and Big" documents the adventures of a pro skater and his good friend and bodyguard as they spend a lot of time and money (they seem to have oodles of both) amusing themselves with truly wacky schemes to get rich(er) and more famous. The comedy gold of these adventures is not exclusively focused on just Rob or Big; many of their schemes involve their beloved bulldog Meaty and Rob's tiny pony Mini horse. Does this sound too arbitrary to be any good? It's not. This show is really, really funny. Rob and Black show a level of friendship that many times borders on non-hetero. In one episode they go shopping at a local health food market and together they decide that they could not only be cereal box models but they could pass themselves off as FEMALE cereal box cover models. A truly hilarious photo shoot with them in drag, complete with make up and wigs, ends this particular episode with a comedic bang. That is just the beginning, in another episode they enter Mini horse in a local county fair competition and place eighth (the horse is ornery and ill-behaved the whole time). Undaunted by their mediocre eighth place showing, they show their little "champion" horse a lot of love and respect, even after he mightily kicks Rob in the balls. Another installment has Big and Rob furiously trying to solve the mystery of who pooped in the pool at their gorgeous California home. Rob is convinced the crime was perpetrated by his cousin/personal assistant. He goes as far as to hire a polygraph expert to root out the phantom pooper in an effort to close the book on this gripping whodunnit. The awesomeness of this show lies in the fact that these two knuckleheads show each other a depth of true friendship and mutual respect that you just don't get in these cynical times...and the damn dog and pony are freakin adorable. The bottom line is that there is nothing else like this out there in the garbage heap that is TV. There is an earnestness and lack of mean spirit that is unheard of and downright refreshing. If you have absolutely had it with the formulaic and predictable offerings of the idiot box, give these two a chance...they will put a smile on your face. Did I mention that Big is a 6 foot 6, 375 lb. African American and Rob is a small, wirery white guy? It's a new take on Laurel and Hardy guaranteed to please, check it out.
This show receives four "strictly hetero man hugs" out of a possible five.