Comedy Central's newest show is Jon Benjamin Has a Van. Premiering last night, though it will normally run on Wednesdays, including tonight, the show is made up of a series of sketches, some short, some long, starring comic H. Jon Benjamin. Benjamin's distinctive and easily recognizable voice provides life to the title characters on both Archer and Bob's Burgers, but this series is live action. The conceit is that Benjamin has a van, so he can pretend to be a newsman, though the van is almost completely absent, at least in the first episode.
In "Border," there are several short bits, as well as a longer one which finds Benjamin shoving his producer (played by Matt Walsh, Outsourced, Human Giant, Dog Bites Man) over the borders of several countries without a passport. The poor man must repeatedly build a new life for himself, only to have Benjamin find him a year later and do it all over again. For some reason, this is hilariously funny, even though it's Benjamin being a total jerk. In the end, Benjamin gets his, when left to militants without his own passport.
If pushing someone into another country and leaving them isn't funny to you, even in a fictional setting, you probably won't like the show. It's certainly a unique viewpoint, and not one that can be compared to any other series currently running. Benjamin's delivery is often deadpan. He knows what he's doing, but he'd rather amuse himself than worry about other people's feelings. The humor can be offensive, but not disgusting or profane.
I guess some may argue against that point after "Cash Stall," a short bit about a game show played in bathroom stalls, but there are no bodily functions or fluids in the sketch, so it's not really gross. It's more misunderstandings that cause all the commotion. After the headlines of the past few years, the men Benjamin propositions to play his game may think he's looking for sexual activity, though there is never any indication that he is.
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