In the most simplistic terms Kenny vs Spenny is a show about two friends that know each other's worst habits, thought patterns, and boundaries way too well, which is enough to get by on a basic entertainment level. What elevates it to being something more than that is how the show is so well paced in becoming both more absurd with the challenges and surreal with the roles each man entrenches himself in. Through the course of the series the two men essentially create their own mythology.
Kenny is the living embodiment of the archetypal trickster tormenting Spenny, becoming more interested in topping his last great scheme than fearing if Spenny will actually outwit him and win. Spenny plays the part of a quixotic protagonist, becoming more isolated and further inside of his own head as the war against this malevolent force rages on. He approaches contests in only the most idealistic ways, ready to dispense advice and insights the way He-Man or the cast of GI Joe did in the '80's. Even when it comes to things like shoving a long hot dog in his ass, you can bet Spenny will make it about good triumphing over evil. His losses in "who can produce more semen" and "who can kiss more women" play out like lost parables; the former illustrates how Spenny's honor is horribly misplaced against an opponent like Kenny, and the latter gives us a peek at how insidious Kenny's plots had already become for him. Watching Spenny tell that girl off is genuinely one of the most painful moments in the show for me to watch. To his credit, Spenny pulls off some clever tricks throughout the show, especially "first to laugh" and "who can earn more money".
Kenny capitalizes on using the entire production as a canvas for his imagination. The schemes to outmaneuver Spenny and skirt around his rules are just scraping the surface of his creative powers. Even when he's not cheating you see his level of talent in episodes like better chef, better viral video, better fashion show, etc. Not to mention all of his costumes/alter egos, skits throughout the series with his crew (who are given ample opportunity to shine), ideas for humiliations, and general considerations for what the audience wanted to see. Even the city itself becomes a living, breathing character. Goldfield, SpyTech, the passersby reacting to public humiliations, local figures like Zanta, and crackhead neighbors all come into play to give a distinct sense of where all of this chaos is taking place. Fuck the Iron Throne, seeing which guy is calling for humiliation time and walking the streets with head held high is the kind of stakes I watch television for.
Sure, the spectacle of seeing a guy fart his guts out on a staircase or being forced to yank turds out of a public toilet is enough to secure this series as a comedy worth seeing. But the heights these guys reached to have life imitate art is what has me ranking it among shows like All in the Family and Seinfeld as one of the greatest TV comedies of all time. The guy with the wall of tarot cards in "who is most sane" hit the nail on the head about how these two need each other. Kenny's a flame that needs Spenny to sustain burning. The show perfectly captures how each man approaches problems as well as the absolutely shocking lengths they'll go to in order to win. Spenny's generally strict, minimalist philosophy resembles a few cards in an old Oblique Strategies deck. For him, the competitions are less about our entertainment and more often about simply enduring. Though admirable, Kenny is just too damn good at playing with the cheat codes on...to the point where even Spenny is convinced to cut corners here and there. If reincarnation exists, these guys will be torturing each other for millennia.
I'm so glad they made this for our benefit and that I discovered it. Regardless of whether or not they get to continue the series, or create something new entirely, it speaks to what they've accomplished that people still hound Spenny about paying back Wolfish years after the fact or recite episodes like legends at a campfire. All of the crazy shit they did will continue to endure.
Submitted October 12, 2019 at 08:15AM by pushmygutsbackin https://ift.tt/2q8YHFX
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