Mr. Show - What Happened?! The Complete Story & Episode Guide Naomi Odenkirk Squaresville Books 248 pp. ISBN: 0971359784 Available from Kung Fu Nation

But not necessarily for the better. Obsession with defunct scraps of pop culture is never a healthy, productive pastime. It always accompanies some amount of social ineptitude, and once it is inside of you and growing, it compounds your awkwardness. True obsessives can fake it in the real world, but much like the "bee girl" from that Blind Melon video, we truly spring to life around our own kind (though blandly designed internet chatrooms and fan websites somewhat lack the Technicolor zest of that idyllic meadow).

So, why did these two Mr. Show relics (episodes 102 and 405 if you're asking) dorkify me so intensely? Have you seen the show? Though its lifespan was brief, it was one of the most consistently funny shows of the nineties. Kids in the Hall was hilarious and genius, but Mr. Show bested it in terms of relentless entertainment -- plus there was no Chicken Lady. During both its standard one-idea sketches and its insane, infinitely layered filmed pieces, Mr. Show brought newness and a self-aware abandon to late night TV. Nothing remotely as funny has appeared on the small screen since.

The show's staggering achievements are clear to anyone who has seen it. That's why, despite its low ratings and ultimately low impact on the face of television, the show deserves its own book. Written by Naomi Odenkirk (Bob's wife) and featuring a cavalcade of rare photos, telling interview snippets, and minutiae of all kind, it is a richly detailed, appropriately nerdy book that is worthy of its jealously coddled subject.

Janeane Garofalo's foreword opens the book with some over-the-top gushing and self-deprecation. She goes so far as to claim that "the only productive show business thing I've ever done is introduce David Cross to Bob Odenkirk", both of whom she claims are "infinitely more talented than I am." (Garofalo's name is misspelled in the table of contents, one of several confusing typos found throughout the otherwise beautifully designed and laid-out book.) Cross's foreword, though disguised as a missive from a futuristic Orwellian dystopia, still pulsates with bitterness at Mr. Show's neglect at the hands of HBO, the network on which abysmal shows like Arli$$ and, according to Cross, Farm Sex 12 are allowed to blossom and flourish. Completing the trio of forewords is Adolph Royce Hitler's touching update on his current life in Buenos Aires, where his relaxed schedule of carnivals and memoir-reading is constantly being interrupted by foreword requests. About his misdeeds, he's sorry; "It was just plain wrong." (Oddly, Amazon.com actually does list Hitler as a co-author. I'm not sure they're in on the joke.)

Naomi Odenkirk spends most of her introduction defending the fact that she, a Mr. Show wife, wrote the book. She notes that she "was a fan first", and goes on to list her comedy nerd cred. Any complaints about the whole wife thing (nobody cares anyway) are nullified, because her status as both insider and devoted fan bring authority along with enthusiasm to the book.

The lengthy chapter on Mr. Show's birth is a more in-depth companion to the "Before it was a TV Show..." feature on the Mr. Show - The Complete First and Second Seasons DVD. For buffs, the detailed accounts of first meetings and early gigs are as fascinating as stories of those early Hamburg nights are to Beatlemaniacs. Though they were both a part of LA's exciting alternative comedy scene and both wrote for The Ben Stiller Show, Bob and David's partnership took a while to coalesce. After seeing and loving each other's performances, the two formed a team that was one of the highlights of acts performing at The Diamond Club, Upfront Theatre, and other venues. The author's portrait of the early days in the LA scene is intriguingly dense, as is the account of heavyweight producer Bernie Brillstein's championing of the show and its journey to HBO.

Bob and David never enjoyed the idea that they were the "stars" of Mr. Show, preferring to think of it as a troupe effort. Nevertheless, they were the creators and the main life force, so both get detailed chapters about their lives pre-Mr. Show. Both had worked at being funny for most of their lives, though Bob's resume (writing stints at SNL and Get a Life) held more prestige. Odenkirk details David's ramshackle, oft-homeless early days and his bold, confrontational comedy with various cutting-edge troupes in Boston. Pictures of an awkward, adolescent David (with hair!) might just be the book's highlight. Also, as in the rest of the book, these chapters are stuffed with vintage transcripts of early material and telling sidebars written by the people who were there.

Mr. Show's indispensable cast and crew are chronicled in the next chapter. Though they're a bit uneven (the women's write-ups are comparatively skimpy), the biography and anecdotes provide enough scintillating trivia for fans. For example, I now know that Jay Johnston can remove a Denver boot with household tools in three minutes and Bill Odenkirk has a Ph.D. in chemistry.

Chapters on writing and producing the show offer more of the behind-the-scenes nitty-gritty. This section makes one point absolutely clear: the Mr. Show team took their jobs very seriously, and while it could be a lot of fun, it was usually no party. Assumptions that they just sat on a couch with a bong and a bag of chips and cranked out great comedy are silenced. Tasks like devising the much-loved "links" between scenes were arduous and could take days. There were also strict rules, like "no more than 50 gay sketches this season", that had to be diligently obeyed.

Except for the summarizing introductions to each season, the Episode Guide is what it is. If you have seen an episode, you probably won't care to read a scene-by-scene account of its content, though you should enjoy the cast and crew's explanatory, often hilarious personal takes. (Unfortunately, they often overlap with the DVD commentary). For her part, Odenkirk does an excellent job of both succinctly describing the scenes and picking out the funniest bits. The Guide is about as good as it could possibly be.

I've come a long way since three years ago, in my old apartment, watching those two taped episodes 1000 times each. Now I have a new apartment, and have even more episodes! And a book that probably tells me more than I need to or should want to know -- which is, of course, just what a show as once-in-a-lifetime hilarious as Mr. Show deserves.

-- Justin Stewart