Have you heard the one about the cheeseburger, the French fries, and the ketchup?
If you think that’s the start to a bad joke, just wait until you see the webisode that features this same trio of edibles in a starring role. You will see something not just bad, but downright atrocious.
In 2008, New Hampshire artists John Herman and Ryan Plaisted had the crackpot idea to launch a musical web series that anthropomorphized a cheeseburger, French fries, and a bottle of ketchup. Or, more precisely, they swapped the heads of two men and a woman with these three staples of our Fast Food Nation, and asked the three friends to otherwise go about their daily lives. The series was called Odd Noggin Land. It debuted on December 15, 2008…and lasted for just seven episodes. (Hey, the television show Lawless with the Boz lasted just one episode.)
The fourth episode of Odd Noggin Land, entitled “Pool Shark,” is 200 seconds of inanity, an online goulash of unenjoyable song lyrics, lame jokes, jackleg billiards, and overgrown vittles. The show begins with Cheeseburger losing a game of pool to Fries, who can now use the winnings to “get his mole removed.” Cheeseburger wants a rematch, but now cashless, he must bet his Chevette. Fries takes an early lead and it looks like Cheeseburger will be walking until the game is interrupted by Ketchup, who laments, “I can’t take [cheeseburger] anywhere without you playing pool and gambling.” Trying to save his sesame seed buns, she wagers her car against Fries’. She seizes the cue stick, and though her grip and stance are abominable, she runs the table. Cheeseburger rejoices by taunting, “Show me the money;” webisode watchers everywhere cringe as the pop-up speech bubble points out that this is the second Tom Cruise reference. (I think you can guess from what movie the first reference came.)
In their attempt to market Odd Noggin Land, the creators described it as what would happen “if Jim Henson and David Lynch had ever collaborated on a primetime sitcom.” Hah, right! And you thought Cheeseburger had a fat head.
The full episode is available to watch here.
http://youtu.be/JYXp0Vhls3g
