Cloudy drink kills frog: the Onion's "Sex House"

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How dark can it go? And can Frank find redemption?

Three Word Username, Friday, 24 August 2012 16:08 (twelve years ago)

six sexy americans

ciderpress, Friday, 24 August 2012 16:09 (twelve years ago)

Frank's only shot at redemption would be if he somehow is the key to their escape (note, not at all convinced they will ever escape).

Has there been much buzz/discussion about this elsewhere on the internet? The casting/editing is so spot-on I forgive occasional lapses in funniness.

Doctor Casino, Friday, 24 August 2012 16:10 (twelve years ago)

i think the host is actually becoming the most intriguing character

Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 24 August 2012 16:43 (twelve years ago)

The ominous speaker and mist really don't pull back the curtain any further, do they?

your native bacon (mh), Friday, 24 August 2012 16:45 (twelve years ago)

Has there been much buzz/discussion about this elsewhere on the internet?

recent episodes have between 100K and 200K views -- we should feel ashamed as a nation and as a culture that it's so low

Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 24 August 2012 16:46 (twelve years ago)

this started out great but i feel like they really exhausted these characters by the third or fourth ep

mellow, groovy, chilled out, cool (k3vin k.), Friday, 24 August 2012 16:47 (twelve years ago)

It's not about the characters anymore, or at least not as much. It's about how weird the circumstances continue to get.

Johnny Fever, Friday, 24 August 2012 16:55 (twelve years ago)

"to call this place 'evil' implies a clarity of purpose that i do not want to attribute to anyone involved"

rent, Friday, 24 August 2012 17:06 (twelve years ago)

I'm pretty convinced at this point that the humor is being used to deliver some seriously dark Sarah Kane-style nihilistic theater of the absurd and not vice versa.

Three Word Username, Friday, 24 August 2012 17:20 (twelve years ago)

xpost Yeah, Derek keeps getting all the best lines, still dying over "This definitely...isn't a house. I think we might be underground, or on a ship of some kind."

Doctor Casino, Friday, 24 August 2012 17:21 (twelve years ago)

Kind of a grim irony that the smartest dude is also the only black guy and the only gay person in the home.

your native bacon (mh), Friday, 24 August 2012 17:26 (twelve years ago)

uh....what?

Doctor Casino, Friday, 24 August 2012 17:27 (twelve years ago)

this should have been The Prisoner remake and not that amc thing.

Philip Nunez, Friday, 24 August 2012 17:28 (twelve years ago)

Smart gay black men are almost a reality show trope at this point.

Johnny Fever, Friday, 24 August 2012 17:28 (twelve years ago)

(btw, I AM AWARE THERE ARE PLENTY OF SMART GAY BLACK MEN IN REAL LIFE AND THEY EXIST EVERYWHERE)

Johnny Fever, Friday, 24 August 2012 17:30 (twelve years ago)

Being a double-minority and being smart so you really understand your plight in this hellhole

your native bacon (mh), Friday, 24 August 2012 17:44 (twelve years ago)

yeah, haha re: nihilistic theatre of the absurd - seriously, it's verging on social experiment gone horribly wrong. and/or horror movie. let the darkness descend!

obliquity of the ecliptic (rrrobyn), Friday, 24 August 2012 18:05 (twelve years ago)

i have nothing against frogs, but i find all the gruesome, close-up frog death pretty hilarious

obliquity of the ecliptic (rrrobyn), Friday, 24 August 2012 18:06 (twelve years ago)

I just love the collision of generic reality-show tropes with really weirdly specific, arbitrary oddities, like the frogs and the mountain of bananas and the sealed-off mold-filled room, none of which are cliches of either the reality genre or nightmarish creeping horror theater. Nice to see a parody that actually stakes out some new ground.

Doctor Casino, Friday, 24 August 2012 18:14 (twelve years ago)

mold room = best supporting actor

Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 24 August 2012 18:15 (twelve years ago)

I thought maybe some of that stuff referenced fear factor and survivor and the like.

look at this quarterstaff (Hurting 2), Friday, 24 August 2012 18:18 (twelve years ago)

Hrm, probably right on Fear Factor, and there's definitely elements of both in the challenges and that kind of stuff but I dunno...still feels really out of the clear blue imagination of the Onion people somehow.

Doctor Casino, Friday, 24 August 2012 18:21 (twelve years ago)

I thought the underlying gag w/the banana thing is just that whoever is producing the show is desperately mismanaging the budget and not buying food for the house so they found a sponsor who will supply free bananas as long as they are incorporated into the show as much as possible - seemed like a pretty general jab at reality show contests & sponsorship, not referencing any particular show

oprah gangnam style (crüt), Friday, 24 August 2012 18:26 (twelve years ago)

i'm with Doctor C, this has long since transcended being a parody of something and is now its own magnificently insane thing. it is no more a parody of reality shows than twin peaks was a parody of cop shows.

Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 24 August 2012 18:31 (twelve years ago)

though I don't get tired of the reality show editing/music

Legendary General Cypher Raige (Gukbe), Friday, 24 August 2012 18:34 (twelve years ago)

Yes, that and the deliberately insipid descriptions of the videos on youtubeake it clear that this is a mighty complex piece of work.

Three Word Username, Friday, 24 August 2012 18:37 (twelve years ago)

reminds me of palahniuk's haunted, though the threat's external, not internal

i know your nuts hurt! who's laughing? (contenderizer), Friday, 24 August 2012 18:54 (twelve years ago)

Yeah, definitely a huge source of the humor/weirdness is that even though they're getting this increasingly creepy and awful footage, it keeps getting edited and tagged and pop-up-videoed as if everything were proceeding according to plan. The machine's left hand is oblivious to the warnings coming from the right. (Like, the host and the authority he represents are clearly not pleased with how things are going, but tell that to the musical cues!)

Doctor Casino, Friday, 24 August 2012 18:58 (twelve years ago)

Cont: yep, I thought of Haunted and Kane's Cleansed.

Three Word Username, Friday, 24 August 2012 18:59 (twelve years ago)

aren't bananas and mold-filled rooms staples of reality tv though?

Philip Nunez, Friday, 24 August 2012 19:02 (twelve years ago)

no, you're thinking of actual reality

Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 24 August 2012 19:59 (twelve years ago)

i do know real-life people who own settlers of catan and bananas... maybe should warn them to check their rooms.

Philip Nunez, Friday, 24 August 2012 20:01 (twelve years ago)

Can't remember, have they made any attempt to go out of the windows and/or found them to be fake?

Doctor Casino, Friday, 24 August 2012 20:09 (twelve years ago)

yes (just watched ep 2 because of this thread)

(they were boarded up)

40oz of tears (Jordan), Friday, 24 August 2012 20:10 (twelve years ago)

Ahhh yeah. Figured there was some moment like that but couldn't pull it out.

Doctor Casino, Friday, 24 August 2012 20:42 (twelve years ago)

share a heated fruit cup with your lover tonight!

scream blahula scream (govern yourself accordingly), Friday, 24 August 2012 22:06 (twelve years ago)

really brilliant show.

The muted sensation feels amazeballs. (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 25 August 2012 00:44 (twelve years ago)

feel like this last episode jumped the shark, always happens when 'drugs' are introduced

jack chick-fil-A (dayo), Saturday, 25 August 2012 01:14 (twelve years ago)

would love for the whole thing to end in some sort of resident evil/silent hill opening FMV sequence (the makeup is already getting there)

jack chick-fil-A (dayo), Saturday, 25 August 2012 01:15 (twelve years ago)

that's what I'm totally thinking too

obliquity of the ecliptic (rrrobyn), Saturday, 25 August 2012 01:19 (twelve years ago)

I do like how nebulous they make the production of the show. Like, are things designed poorly on purpose? Is that part of the show? Is the host in on it or just clueless? Did they pick such a mismatched bunch on purpose, are are they just incompetent? Are we on some Bunuel level can't leave "Exterminating Angel" plane, or is it supposed to be funny that they just don't try to get out? Will the show actually allow the pregnancy storyline to play out? How far is it willing to go?

Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 25 August 2012 16:10 (twelve years ago)

w/ the exception of frank (part of what makes him hilarious) the mismatched bunch is standard reality show boilerplate

balls, Saturday, 25 August 2012 16:14 (twelve years ago)

In the intro episode, it was just awkward that there was one gay man. After you figure out it's a sealed house, it just became... worse.

your native bacon (mh), Saturday, 25 August 2012 16:16 (twelve years ago)

the heating/cooling system was the first point at which i realised I didn't have a handle on this at all.

Legendary General Cypher Raige (Gukbe), Saturday, 25 August 2012 16:23 (twelve years ago)

wd not be surprised to see "a game of sexy russian roulette" at some point

Guayaquil (eephus!), Saturday, 25 August 2012 16:27 (twelve years ago)

The lone gay guy and locked doors/blocked windows in Ep. 1 were pretty good clues that the writer(s) were fans of Sartre's No Exit.

Don't know how long they can keep the descent into Hell funny.

The Painter of Blight™ (Sanpaku), Saturday, 25 August 2012 17:07 (twelve years ago)

finally watched this last night. yikes.

catbus otm (gbx), Saturday, 25 August 2012 17:14 (twelve years ago)

The lone gay guy and locked doors/blocked windows in Ep. 1 were pretty good clues that the writer(s) were fans of Sartre's No Exit.

yeah, figured it was a horror movie p much from the start. but i watch a lot of horror movies.

i know your nuts hurt! who's laughing? (contenderizer), Saturday, 25 August 2012 17:16 (twelve years ago)

I mean, I wonder if it will develop that getting the cast to have sex is not really the premise of the show? Because lone gay guy, married with kids guy, virgin ... and the two cast to be most sexually compatible have yet to have sex, mostly due to the house or the producers. I def. am getting more of a Bunuel vibe than a Sartre vibe, though.

Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 25 August 2012 18:35 (twelve years ago)

The major problem for reality TV is that real life is too dull to make for compelling television

Stopped reading at this point. GF stopped at the paragraph before when the writer tried bringing Tronti into it.

give me back my 200 dollars (NotEnough), Monday, 4 February 2013 13:49 (twelve years ago)

dunno if "america's best" is going to turn into something spectacular or not.

s.clover, Monday, 4 February 2013 13:56 (twelve years ago)

seems kinda weaksauce right now

it was very clear that it's a sarcastic song (forksclovetofu), Monday, 4 February 2013 18:23 (twelve years ago)

is it more one-offs like lake dredge appraisal?

❏❐❑❒ (gr8080), Monday, 4 February 2013 18:29 (twelve years ago)

yeah it feels sort of tossed-off and directionless. but they're only three eps in, so i'll see where they take it.

s.clover, Monday, 4 February 2013 19:09 (twelve years ago)

three weeks pass...

This was a step up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHmyRQnS9Gs

forks is lucky he didn't get stabbed over a marilyn monroe cd (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 21:28 (twelve years ago)

good way out i thought
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMiAi4Xx41I

the 'dirty sprite' is implied (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 12 March 2013 21:22 (twelve years ago)

one month passes...

(moved from other thread)

I just watched the pilot of Onion News Empire on Amazon Prime and thought it was pretty solid, didn't blow me away, but a lot of good laugh lines skewering both the news and the genre of the newsroom drama. Was hard not to think about the fact that the criticism of Big Corporate Media was being funded by a Big Corporate something else that is trying to compete with Big Corporate Media, and that took a little of the bite out of it for me.

― huun huurt 2 (Hurting 2), Saturday, April 27, 2013 9:27 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

huun huurt 2 (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 30 April 2013 03:44 (twelve years ago)

had sort of a 30 rock feel to the writing, although didn't seem likely to produce characters anywhere near as good as jack doneghy and liz lemon

huun huurt 2 (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 30 April 2013 03:45 (twelve years ago)

so it's not on youtube?

ְ֮֠֓֟֬֩ (gr8080), Tuesday, 30 April 2013 03:51 (twelve years ago)

it's free if you have amazon prime, don't know if it costs otherwise or what.

huun huurt 2 (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 30 April 2013 03:54 (twelve years ago)

seven months pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQLdhVpLBVE

lag∞n, Friday, 27 December 2013 04:04 (eleven years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQLdhVpLBVE

lag∞n, Friday, 27 December 2013 04:05 (eleven years ago)

:)

VENIET IMBER (imago), Friday, 27 December 2013 04:28 (eleven years ago)

never tell anyone your name, never

lag∞n, Friday, 27 December 2013 04:39 (eleven years ago)

loved this. i know one of the writers from college and his stuff is generally not my thing but this was great.

call all destroyer, Friday, 27 December 2013 04:44 (eleven years ago)

i watched it twice in a row

lag∞n, Friday, 27 December 2013 04:45 (eleven years ago)

had to keep pausing to catch all the text

my whole family is catholic so look at the pickle i'm in (zachlyon), Friday, 27 December 2013 04:46 (eleven years ago)

http://i.imgur.com/tekAx0n.png

lag∞n, Friday, 27 December 2013 04:48 (eleven years ago)

lol wut

k3vin k., Friday, 27 December 2013 04:49 (eleven years ago)

hahahaha

call all destroyer, Friday, 27 December 2013 04:52 (eleven years ago)

v basic satire, k3v, done q well

VENIET IMBER (imago), Friday, 27 December 2013 04:52 (eleven years ago)

hahah i took that same screenshot

Mmm yes hello (crüt), Friday, 27 December 2013 04:53 (eleven years ago)

so good

lag∞n, Friday, 27 December 2013 04:59 (eleven years ago)

i posted it on facebook like 5 mins after you did

lag∞n, Friday, 27 December 2013 05:02 (eleven years ago)

is there a newer link? looks like it's private now

hug niceman (psychgawsple), Tuesday, 7 January 2014 20:10 (eleven years ago)

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1528825/thumbs/o-FOR-PROFIT-ONLINE-facebook.jpg

am0n, Tuesday, 7 January 2014 20:49 (eleven years ago)

It's private, somebody tell me what it was, if it has to do with Sex House I must watch it

Guayaquil (eephus!), Tuesday, 7 January 2014 20:54 (eleven years ago)

it doesnt really have to do with sex house its just like sex house

lag∞n, Tuesday, 7 January 2014 21:00 (eleven years ago)

actually maybe it does have to do w sex house i guess the guys who wrote it used to work for the onion so idk

lag∞n, Tuesday, 7 January 2014 21:04 (eleven years ago)

its called For Profit Online University and it was made by adult swim and appears to have gone off the nets

lag∞n, Tuesday, 7 January 2014 21:07 (eleven years ago)

which is a shame because it's great
but i bet they're gonna do it with the same crew as a show so maybe not so much a shame

this harmless group of nerds and the women that love them (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 7 January 2014 21:22 (eleven years ago)

should we do a "actually good web series 2014" thread?

|$̲̅(̲̅ιοο̲̅)̲̅$̲̅| (gr8080), Wednesday, 8 January 2014 15:13 (eleven years ago)

^i'm on board

in the former onion writers/adult swim category i really liked xhow last year (it's probably mentioned upthread but at least this is a newer one)

http://youtu.be/ojxvrirgACU

it seems like they're doing very similar things on the onion site recently too - http://www.theonion.com/video/the-onions-tips-for-last-minute-holiday-shopping,34837/

hug niceman (psychgawsple), Wednesday, 8 January 2014 19:08 (eleven years ago)

^ first vid is borderline nsfw

hug niceman (psychgawsple), Wednesday, 8 January 2014 19:11 (eleven years ago)

lol

joe sch ‏@on3ness Jan 7
@wildaggressive where did For Profit Online University go

Wild, Aggressive Dog ‏@wildaggressive 8m
@on3ness the video is back thank you for your patience a sandwich will be mailed to you shortly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmRxJEqgdWA

lag∞n, Monday, 20 January 2014 17:48 (eleven years ago)

lol

|$̲̅(̲̅ιοο̲̅)̲̅$̲̅| (gr8080), Monday, 20 January 2014 17:49 (eleven years ago)

A+

Guayaquil (eephus!), Monday, 20 January 2014 19:13 (eleven years ago)

four months pass...

six sexy americans

Guayaquil (eephus!), Monday, 16 June 2014 04:54 (ten years ago)

not really a narrative series but lmao:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5lgwopmKMw

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4NL9i-Fu15hYD2O2Ea0YkJA8b6b8ceMA

°ㅇ๐ْ ° (gr8080), Thursday, 19 June 2014 17:27 (ten years ago)

Hahahaha

, Thursday, 19 June 2014 17:48 (ten years ago)

one year passes...

EDGE is live
http://www.onionstudios.com/series/edge

let's not get too excited w/ the ouches (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 4 August 2015 19:45 (nine years ago)

five years pass...

just watched this again, holds up!

That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Friday, 12 February 2021 04:19 (four years ago)

I did the same a few months ago and 100% concur.

Johnny Fever, Friday, 12 February 2021 05:46 (four years ago)

I remember the last ep not working for me, but the rest...

stimmy stimmy yah (Simon H.), Friday, 12 February 2021 14:26 (four years ago)

I rewatched this last year, close to the start of lockdown, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I still enjoyed it.

hourspass, Friday, 12 February 2021 19:49 (four years ago)

this series is pretty good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIoWVm2jkxM

That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 18 February 2021 00:04 (four years ago)

six sexy americans

― ciderpress, Friday, August 24, 2012 12:09 PM (eight years ago) bookmarkflaglink

ciderpress, Thursday, 18 February 2021 01:12 (four years ago)

three weeks pass...

https://www.vulture.com/article/sex-house-jen-spyra-the-onion-interview.html

G.A.G.S. (Gophers Against Getting Stuffed) (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 16 March 2021 22:25 (four years ago)

four months pass...

I hadn't seen this show since it came out, so ... almost ten years? But so brilliant, and soooooo dark.

Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 7 August 2021 00:08 (three years ago)


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