The premiere episode of HBO's cutting-edge sketch comedy Mr. Show introduces recurring character Ronnie Dobbs. Dobbs, a Southern redneck character, does a PSA for the National Entitilitus Foundation, claiming that he's dying of the mysterious disease. Then the show begins with Bob Odenkirk and Cross onstage. ""Well, America,"" Bob explains, ""You asked for it. You told HBO, 'We want to see a sketch show hosted by two people we've never seen before.'"" ""And that's us,"" adds David. They begin by taking suggestions from the audience, but things get ugly when one simple-minded audience member and his friend are thrown out for suggesting Bob and David play different characters, and perform scripted material. The ""centerpiece"" of the show is a sketch in which Terry reminisces about his discovery of Ronnie Dobbs. Terry was a cameraman for the reality TV show ""Fuzz,"" and noticed that in nearly every city where they filmed, the police would arrest the same violent drunken redneck -- Ronnie -- usual

The second episode of Mr. Show opens with Senator Tankerbell at the podium railing against government funding of the arts. The conservative Southern senator makes a bizarre analogy to an obscene joke involving a traveling salesman and a milking machine. Then, the show proper opens with Bob alone onstage. He explains that David Cross is not doing the show because certain artists are being supervised by U.S. senators, and David is being forced to wear a tracking collar that gives him a shock every time he steps on a stage. Bob convinces David to do the show, and he's in agonizing pain until Tankerbell turns the collar off. There's also a sketch about ""The Book of Marshall"" with the lost apostle who speaks like a late-night infomercial host (""Jesus, what if I told you the meek could inherit something a whole lot better than the earth?""). In another sketch, Odenkirk portrays a voice-over actor laying down a string of promotions and disclaimers, including the infamous ""Mr. Pickles Fun-Time

The third episode of HBO's Mr. Show, "We Regret to Inform You," features a guest appearance by former O.J. Simpson hanger-on, demi-celebrity Kato Kaelin! This episode is also chock-full of reflexive commentary on its gay content. In one sketch, David Cross complains about Bob Odenkirk replacing him in the "kissing sketch" with the comely Sarah Silverman. Bob claims he didn't think David "found the character's voice." David indignantly points out that Silverman "is playing me," and reassures Bob, "Men can kiss. Men can get married. They even have a pill nowadays that lets them make love to each other." There's also a sketch in which Bob profiles actor Borden Grote, who takes method acting to absurd extremes. Grote studied crowds before appearing as an extra in a crowd scene. He attended medical school before doing a 15-second cameo as a doctor in Mel Brooks' flop, "Badman Whatever." As Bob catches up with Grote, he's had his frontal lobe removed in preparation for playing the lead in a

On the fourth episode of Mr. Show, Bob Odenkirk and David Cross add another fatal disease (in addition to the recurring Entitilitus) to their repertoire -- Imminent Death Syndrome. The show opens with Bob and David distractedly introducing the show while watching TV. When Bob notices that the audience is watching the same thing, he decides they'll just put the image up on the big screen for everyone. They're all watching a live transmission of the LAPD chasing -- not O.J. Simpson's white Bronco -- but the Pope-mobile. The newscasters explain that a local bishop was found ""brutally excommunicated,"" and, because they found a Pope-like staff and conical hat at the bloody scene, the Pope is a prime suspect. The anchors later report that polls show ""85 percent of the public believes the Pope didn't do it, even if he did."" In another sketch, a young man named Larry goes for his first guitar lesson. Nils, the teacher, responds to his tuneless strumming by proclaiming him a ""guitar god."" It tu