Episode: Bear Traps
Funniest Moment: As The Mayor introduces Tom to the Jefferton City Council, he mentions that Tom is a real astronaut, not like that imposter. Cut to newspaper clipping seen above. Doubly funny because Tom is also not an astronaut.
Episode: WW Laserz
Funniest Moment: After being knocked unconscious by an angry, asthma suffering child's brick projectile, Tom comes to days later in a dumpster. The Mayor explains that he has been keeping Tom there because he was "too tender to move" and has been feeding him cat food. In what would become a series signature moment, a real life hand and cat food are shown, with the fingers disgustingly breaking up the canned feline treat.
Episode: Pioneer Island
Funniest Moment: Though technically the second episode aired, the DVD lists it as the third episode. Anyway, the best scene in 'Pioneer Island' is after Tom writes a postcard to his family while helping with the Pioneer Island renovations. As he mispronounces the word "brochure" it shows up on the screen as a subtitle. This would become another series staple: mispronunciations, sometimes with subtitles. See also constant misspellings, often of Tom's full name, Tom Peters.
Episode: Toodle Day
Funniest Moment: This is one of those episodes where you just have to go along with the ridiculous premise to have any fun with it. Basically an annual town festival where dogs are married off, The Mayor has decided that for this year's Toodle Day they should train a matchmaker dog to help pair off the canines, as dog divorces are extremely high due to inappropriate husband/wife combinations. So it's up to Tom to train this dog, which he does so in ridiculous attire. The blackboard, complete with "by Tom Peters" on it, seals the absurdity of the whole thing.
Episode: Rats Off To Ya!
Funniest Moment: I don't know why I think it's so funny, but this whole episode spoofs America's tendency to latch unto one cultural fad and take it to extremes. In this case, it's a t-shirt that Tom makes, the titular 'Rats Off To Ya" with a rat presenting a hat to the t-shirt viewer. A local business owner steals the idea from him, and the whole thing ends up with Rats Off To Ya wristlets, electric scooters, bongs, and this hilarious, teen pop skewering music video. Truth be told Eric Wareheim's outfit and dance moves--foreshadowing his amazing 'Casey and his Brother' stuff on Awesome Show--are a funnier visual gag this the singer chick grinding on a man in a rat costume, but I'm a sucker for bestiality.
Episode: Porcelain Birds
Funniest Moment: We're roughly halfway through the season, and I think it's with this episode that the series came into its own. There are a lot of hilarious moments in this one, but the ending is what always gets me. It's not even the surprise screeching giant bird that pops out of the huge toilet dedicated to a despondent Tom at the very end. For me, it's just the huge toilet itself, because it makes for a great reminder that the same thing that useless shit like porcelain birds are made out of also goes into the thing that we use to shit in.
Episode: Vehicular Manslaughter
Funniest Moment: It's impossible not to love the dance/handshake thing that The Mayor and Dr. Michael Ian Black do. There's just something inspired about the weird gestures and nonsense words that Tim and Eric come up with for these kind of situations.
Episode: Boy Meets Mayor
Funniest Moment: Though I will admit that I think it's funny that The Mayor seems more concerned with Tom's broken sandal than he does with his sex scandal, I also think it's far funnier when they both find themselves in a hot air balloon race/record attempt and lose their minds. There has always been something disturbing and creepy about The Mayor, something inhuman, but this is the first time he truly gives off a serial killer vibe. When Tom argues that they need to give up and land before they all die, The Mayor grabs him and, with a dagger to Tom's neck, calmly intones "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Episode: Calcucorn
Funniest Moment: Like 'Porcelain Birds', 'Calcucorn' is funny from start to finish, and its best scene comes at the end. I would have to summarize the whole episode to help contextualize the hilarity of this part, but just know that as Tom sinks in a heavy, unwieldly unicorn suit he politely offers something along the lines of "this suit is making me sink, that's the only problem I have with it right now." Much of the humor from this show comes from awkward situations or Tom not standing up for himself, and this is one of those situations where Tim and Eric absolutely help you understand what they were going for with this show and this character.
Episode: Gibbons
Funniest Moment: While the majority of the humor in this episode comes from the interplay between The Mayor, Gibbons, and Tom, they also manage to sneak in a great bit about what Tom is trying to sell at the Friendship Expo. The show usually managed to sneak in little bits of text on posters, postcards, backgrounds, or just other funny details that you only notice on the second or third viewing. However this one's side humor is delicious: Tom's wife Joy has him selling 'friendship skirts for men' ("to be worn in tandem", Tom explains) while he is trying to hock his BOTCs--books on tiny cassette. Somehow, Tim and Eric always manage to push something that already is funny--a motivational seminar on an outdated audio format from a man who constantly fails and has no backbone--to something funnier yet--the same thing only on an even more useless audio format that practically no one has heard of.
Episode: Pipe Camp
Funniest Moment: I have actually seen official Pipe Camp shirts in the wild. I just wanted to note that because I think this image speaks for itself: Tom in another stupid outfit, with his fly undone, trying to motivate kids to exercise at a camp that, unbeknownst to him, is teaching kids proper pipe smoking and what fatty meats would complement what blends of pipe tobacco. I should add that Tom mispronounces aerobics, too.
Episode: Re-Birth
Funniest Moment: As with 'Toodle Day', you just have to roll with the premise of the episode to like 'Re-Birth.' However, I hope I'm not alone in thinking that what Tom renames his three sons--Brandon, Brindon, and Brendon--is one of the funniest running gags of the series from here on out.
Episode: Vice Mayor
Funniest Moment: Tim and Eric's 'Married News Team' bit gets better with time. Though taken to even loftier and creepier heights later in the series, and in Awesome Show, this scene from the last episode of season one ranks up there for me with one of the best images from the series. Even not knowing anything about what is going on in this picture, you could probably get some amusement out of it. That Jan is pawing at the image of Tom's house, where the hobo stink wave originates, while Wayne nods adoringly from the bottom right of the screen is simply sublime.
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