Talk-Show Spoof ‘Hanging with Doctor Z’ Isn’t Monkeying Around (Video)
The Internet is a weird and wonderful place sometimes. Other times, it’s a jungle. In this case, it’s all of that and a bag of chimps. (Sorry!)
Earlier in April, we became happily aware of YouTube’s Hanging with Doctor Z — the season finale of which dropped this week — the brainchild of comedian Dana Gould, who hosts the strangest, funniest talk show you need to see under the heavily made-up guise of the Planet of the Apes icon better known as Dr. Zaius.
“A global movie star and so much more, this simian bon vivant is a triple threat: actor, singer, dancer AND raconteur!” reads the official release for the nine-episode hoot that borrows heavily from old-school chatfests like Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show and The Joe Franklin Show.
“From starring on the silver screen to swinging in the glory days of Vegas and guest spots on tv shows too numerous to mention for legal reasons, Dr. Z has been there and done that. He’s worked, played, cavorted, danced, fallen down, gotten back up and romped with everyone who’s anyone…and some more that never were, like Chevy Chase.”
Shot on a set that feels as 1950’s low-fi as the Zaius makeup looks film-quality, Gould’s verbose and occasionally offensive Orangutan conducts his interviews virtually, with guests appearing on a CGI TV on his desk. With his background as a co-EP and writer on The Simpsons, as well the creator of IFC’s Stan Against Evil, Gould has been able to recruit a deep bench of comedy heavy hitters to visit the show, including A.P. Bio‘s Patton Oswalt, Stan‘s Janet Varney, SNL vet Will Forte, Conan‘s sidekick Andy Richter and, in the season finale, himself.
Every episode is available now on the Hanging with Doctor Z YouTube channel, so just head over there and give yourself a laugh. It’s been one helluva week and we all deserve a little escape…from the Planet of the Apes. (Again, so sorry!)
