Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
The Midnight Gospel is coming out on 4/20 for a reason: The discussions and animation on this show are trippy AF. But you don’t need to be on any substances to get in deep with this show, which is essentially an animated podcast. One you realize that, then all you need to buckle in and go along for the ride.
THE MIDNIGHT GOSPEL: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: A guy tunes into a radio, with a morning host named Pyro Moth (Phil Hendrie) going, “Goooood morning, simulation farmers!”
The Gist: Clancy (Duncan Trussell) lives in a trailer and likes his coffee. After he sits outside and listens to Pyro Moth spin tunes for a bit, he goes inside to figure out which universe simulation he wants to play in today. The simulator (also Hendrie) tells him that certain Earths are already dead due to government issues or “operator error,” so he chooses an Earth where he decides to talk to a guy named Glasses Man (Drew Pinsky), and he’s in the form of a giant with a straw hat.
He puts his head into what could only be described as a large vulva, and he’s rocketed through space to the Earth simulation, landing on the tiny Glasses Man. He just happens to be the President, and he’s got two problems: He’s fighting off zombies and dealing with “Free the Weed!” protesters. He doesn’t want to talk about the zombies, so when Clancy asks Glasses Man about them, he says, “those assholes?” then launches into a discussion about he (Dr. Drew, or maybe Glasses Man, or maybe both) isn’t really anti-legalization, but just doesn’t think having weed be legal will turn out well for people.
But then as they go to the roof of the White House and Glasses Man picks off zombies with a shotgun, he and Clancy talk about how people being hooked on pot is way better than being hooked on opioids, and how there is no such thing as a “bad drug” or a “good drug;” what they do to people depends on the person and the situations in which they use it.
As they escape the White House and find a mall, with a doctor developing a cure for the zombie virus, they’ve already discussed how Clancy almost died from mixing Valium and alcohol. Then they run through the mall talking about Buddhism and how it relates to psychedelic drugs getting you closer to the truth. Then they all become zombies, and Clancy realizes that zombie life isn’t so bad, as everyone around him sings a song about how much fun it is to be a zombie.
Our Take: If the description above seems absolutely nuts, if it seems like the type of thing you’d envision while tripping on mushrooms, you’re right. What Trussell and his fellow creator Pendelton Ward (Adventure Time) have done is build a trippy world around a series of podcasts where Trussell talks to various people about deep philosophical issues, drugs, the universe, religion, and all manner of deep topics.
We’re not 100% sure how Trussell and Pendelton do this. Do they do the interview first, then go back to the subject — in this case, Dr. Drew — and have them layer in story-related dialogue once they come up with what the story of the episode will be? Or do they come up with the story first and have the subject interject show-related dialogue while having a conversation with Clancy/Trussell? In the second episode, where Clancy simulates a cloud planet and talks to two reindeer/dog-like creatures voiced by Anne Lamott and Raghu Marcus, Marcus calls him Duncan, and Clancy says “Who’s Duncan?”
Once you get the idea that what you’re listening to is essentially an animated podcast, you’re ready to buckle in and go along for the ride. The story is in the action, not in the dialogue. A lot of times, the dialogue sounds like noise to us, people discussing seemingly deep concepts while weird stuff is going on around them. Their characters aren’t exactly oblivious, but it also seems like nothing will stop their discussion, whether it’s zombies in one case or being smushed into tiny particles in the other.
The story of each episode is sort of beside the point, though. We know that Clancy collects mementos from his simulation adventures, and those mementos carry over from one episode to the next. We also know that Clancy does a podcast across dimensions in the multiverse, but we don’t know if this will tie all the shows up by the last episode of this first season or it’s more of a holding device.
One thing we do know is that The Midnight Gospel doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but it also doesn’t have to.
Sex and Skin: At the mall, Clancy and Glasses Man come across a couple tongue-kissing each other, but that’s about it.
Parting Shot: Clancy, during his podcast: “To my one subscriber, Hernog Jinsen, I live for you; you’re the reason why I wake up every morning with a smile on my face. So keep listening, Hernog, and I’ll see you in your dreams.”
Sleeper Star: We’re amazed when we hear Phil Hendrie’s voice on an oddball show like this. The guy has been in radio for almost 50 years, and he’s done voice overs for over 20. The fact that he’s up for doing weird stuff like this, and leans into the role he’s given, blows our minds.
Most Pilot-y Line: Hard to find something pilot-y in a show that’s so bonkers.
Our Call: STREAM IT. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but The Midnight Gospel is fascinatingly strange, and if you listen to what is actually talked about, you may come away with some insight into the human condition.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company.com, RollingStone.com, Billboard and elsewhere.
