Bad bet

Has anyone seen this? For those of you who don’t have the INHD channel (which, sadly, doesn\’t feature any Robert Wilsonky programming), Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak have a new show oh-so-cleverly called I Bet You.

The premise is exactly what you’d expect: They walk around betting thousands of dollars on completely inane bullshit. They bet on how much a shirt costs. They bet on whether a girl they meet on the street is wearing a thong or regular panties. They bet on who can be the best bartender and, later, who can get drunk and blow closest to .08 on a breathalyzer. All of which should provide for fun, rollicking scenes complete with plenty of spontaneous comedy. Instead, sitting through the half-hour show is like listening to Jamie Gold’s painful, and you don’t really want to do it, but you’re sure it’ll get better eventually so you stick it out. But it doesn’t get better. Trust me.


I’ve heard that Gavin Smith and Joe Sebok have a similarly dreadful show. But I’ll bet you it’s not worse than I Bet You. (That joke, lame as it is, is worlds funnier than anything that happens with Laak and Esfandiari, by the way.)

So here\’s some advice for The Unabomber and The Magician: if you\’re going to have a show like this, be men about it. Or at least increase the comedy. I once watched Eric Celeste bet Tim Rogers $50 that Tim wouldn\’t eat lint out of Eric\’s bellybutton (for some reason, Eric always has garbage in his navel). And Tim did it. Now that\’s an entertaining bet. What you guys are doing is just a waste of my time.