If you’ve been checking the “News” portion of Film Threat lately (and I hope you have because that section isn’t only set up for our enjoyment), you might have read about Channel101.com holding the “First Annual Channel 101 Incredibly Prestigious Achievement Awards”. In that same article (accessible by typing “Channel 101” in the Search Film Threat box), a brief nod is given to a show on that website called Computerman Factor 2000, starring none other than Jack Black and some other dude named Dan Harmon who wrote 99.999999% of the episodes and directed them too.
It’s true that, to quote the article, “You’ve gotta see it to believe it.” I’ve seen it, and while I’m still surprised that Jack Black takes time out to do this, it’s a funny little show that manages to keep itself balanced on a good storyline.
The shenanigans begin when we meet Eugene (Harmon), who updates the McDonald’s website, or used to as the case is. While cutting a hunk of salami at his computer with a sharp knife, he accidentally cuts himself and a drop of his blood lands in his keyboard. After much sizzling and cracking of electricity and finally a minor explosion, the smoke clears and Eugene’s computer has been transformed into Computerman, “an amalgam of your computer and your DNA”, as the well-spoken Tenacious D member explains. From there, Eugene b*****s about not being able to do his job in any way. Computerman extends a finger, and out comes a phone line which plugs into the wall. The site’s updated, but Eugene’s fired because of what Computerman updated it with, which might have included something about McDonald’s causing deforestation.
The series is not entirely about Eugene getting used to Computerman and eventually becoming friends with him, but also involves Agent Chapman (Jeff Davis), who believes that Computerman could be a tool that could be of great help to the government. But dressed in a dark suit and sunglasses, much like another well known agent (though Chapman takes his off from time to time), there’s no reason to trust Chapman and both Eugene and Computerman have to work to try to get away from Davis and soon reveal a secret to the world that the U.S. Government has been hiding. The secret is unknown and turns out to be your basic MacGuffin of a majority of the episodes.
During many of these episodes, we also come into contact with a few other characters, such as Eugene’s Dad (Stuart Cornfeld), whose help is needed when Eugene and Computerman have to hide out from the FBI. Soon, Eugene has himself shrinked, via his Dad’s shrink ray and gets rid of a virus that’s inside Computerman. It’s Fantastic Voyage in some way, but it’s all 1s and 0s this time. There’s also another set of episodes where Eugene and Computerman are in space and there’s some good adventures found in the two episodes that involve that, including a creature made of a nuclear fuel leak and bacteria.
Working together on “Computerman Factor 2000”, Harmon and Black have created something you certainly won’t find on the Internet everyday. Outside of this series, you probably won’t find Jack Black walking around in his tightie whities, with a computer monitor on his head and a keyboard hanging across his chest. The episodes do become somewhat surreal at times, but remain amusing throughout as two totally different personalities try to get along, while facing that big faceless thing known as the Government.
You know what? Just check it all out at the section for “Computerman” at channel101.com. And there’s a good chance that you won’t be thinking, “Hey, there’s got to be some porn I haven’t looked at yet,” while watching these 5 episodes.
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