You're Whole

You're Whole is an American satirical television series created by Michael Ian Black for Adult Swim. The series parodies self-help infomercials and stars Black as the host, Randall Tyree Mandersohn. The series is directed by Michael Showalter, who has collaborated with Black in the past. The series, which premiered on November 5, 2012, has aired two seasons totaling eight episodes. Both seasons were broadcast at 4:00 a.m. as part of DVR Theater on Adult Swim, and were promoted as a series of infomercials.

Synopsis

Each episode of the series is presented as part of a larger DVD set consisting of 27 discs. The series features Micheal Ian Black as the host, Randall Tyree Mandersohn: a "totally blind" volleyball-obsessed self-help guru. Along with his wife, Pam (portrayed by Cathy Shim), he aims to help people improve their lives using a system that uses a bizarre mixture of objects and actions.

Broadcast history

The series premiered on November 5, 2012, and has aired two seasons totaling eight episodes. Both seasons were broadcast at 4:00 a.m. as part of DVR Theater on Adult Swim, and were advertised as a series genuine infomercials.^[1] The series was made available on YouTube on November 6, 2012.^[2][3]

Episodes

Season 1 (2012)

Season 2 (2013)

Reception

The series has received positive critical reception, mostly praising Michael Ian Black's performance and the satirizing of American gurus, namely of the cultural appropriation of foreign rituals; Erik Adams of The A.V. Club gave the series a positive review, praising "Mandersohn's casually racist, volleyball-obsessed path to a better you in a manner familiar to anyone who's ever killed time before daylight by flipping through their cable package."^[14] Britt Hayes of ScreenCrush called the series "absolutely fantastic. Black is spot-on as a self-help guru obsessed with juicers, intramural volleyball, and 'the secrets of the Orientals.' He even makes Oriental-themed music and accompanying music videos for his products."^[15] Aisha Harris of Slate praised Black's performance, stating "Black, who gives a wonderfully committed performance, has pretty much every common trope of the self-help craze covered. ... Perhaps the most scathing treatment is given to the way many American gurus appropriate foreign rituals for Western audiences."^[16] Bradford Evans of Splitsider compared the series to Paid Programming, an unsuccessful pilot that was also pitched as a mock-infomercial, stating that "Michael Ian Black is recognizable as a comedic actor, whereas neither Cross nor Benjamin appeared in Paid Programming, preferring to use unknown actors instead."^[17]

References

External links

• Official website
• You're Whole at the Internet Movie Database