The Whitest Kids U'Know ends series

     IFC's odd sketch show The Whitest Kids U'Know came to an end last night after five seasons. In the final, there were four sketches. In the first, a kid yelled for his mom to come to the phone very loudly and repeatedly, only to discover she was at the grocery store. The second has a new news reporter starting who is very ditsy, and coupled with an airhead field reporter, drive the veteran anchor to quit. Thirdly, a college sophomore comes out to her parents, who shrug it off, but go ballistic when their son says he's gay. And last, the season-long continuing sketch, "The Civil War on Drugs," ends with the heroes getting to speak to President Lincoln, only to find out the entire thing has been a huge misunderstanding.

     The "Mom Phone" sketch is compeltely dumb and pointless. While The Whitest Kids U'Know sometimes does sketches along these lines, they are rarely welcome, and it makes for a terrible opening to their finale episode.

     "It Was Pretty Good," the name of the second segment, as well as the catchphrase the field reporter keeps uttering is a bit better, but far from great. It's not a bad concept or commentary on the state of local news, but runs on a bit too long, and becomes a tad boring. It would work better as a much shorter sketch.

     "Sophomores" is laugh out loud hilarious, easily the best part of the night. Not only does it poke fun at the stereotype that many women go through a lesbian phase that doesn't last in college, but it also exposes a double standard, as well as pervasive homophobia in an older generation. There are many layers and aspects to this seemingly straight forward bit, and it makes viewers think as well as chuckle. It's a brilliant example of social commentary, something The Whitest Kids U'Know touch on from time to time, but rarely committ to, as they seem to be more about random giggles than changing the world. Sure, the characters do go a bit over the top, but it's a fine piece of writing.

     It's hard to decide if "The Civil War on Drugs" is a huge accomplishment, certainly being the longest running sketch ever to be done on the series, or waste of time banality. In the end, (spoiler alert!) the North wins the war, and it's about slavery, not legalizing pot. Opinon begins to sway towards the former conclusion as President Lincoln berates the two men in his office for thinking pot might be illegal. After all, it's against every thing our forefathers stood for to impune personal rights without just cause. Another commentary of current society, it points out that idiocy of making marijuana against the law. It should resonate well with loyal fans of the series.

     Thank you to Trevor Moore, Sam Brown, Darren Trumeter, Zach Cregger, Timmy Williams, and anyone else working on the show for five mostly funny years. The Whitest Kids U'Know will be missed.

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The Whitest Kids U'Knew on IFC

     IFC's sketch comedy series, The Whitest Kids U'Know, began its fifth and final season last night. Known for being a bit 'out there', their humor can be at times offensive and gross. This is best exemplified by last night's recurring gag when a phone sex worked named Baked Beans did commercials. Troupe member Timmy Williams played Baked Beans, with a long wig and women's lingerie. He poured cans of baked beans all over himself and made corny, baked bean-related sexual innuendos. it was disturbing and provoked nausea. What's more, Baked Beans popped up no less than three times during the episode.

     Fortunately, the rest of the half hour was much funnier. Most of the bits had the members of the comedy troupe, Trevor Moore (Breaking In), Sam Brown, Zach Cregger (NBC's as yet unaired Friends with Benefits), and Darren Trumeter, playing various characters, sometimes multiple ones in the same sketch. Only one sketch moslty just contained the central cast, though. While sometimes others have assisted, last night's episode was one of the most extra-heavy ever made by the group. Will the rest of the reason have others besides the five men in it? Is it because by season five people know who they are?

     The Civil War on Drugs found a couple of boys in the late 19th century befriending a Jamaican slave who introduces them to pot. The bit plays on stereotypes, and meanders, beginning with one boy being kicked out of a school house, long before he finds his friend and meets the slave. In fact, the entire thing runs for almost a full act, and ends with 'to be continued...' Will it pick up next week? Without having seen all the episodes, it's not certain if they have done this before, but no other example springs to mind. The show has had long sketches before the seem to switch direction a few times, but this is definitely one of their windiest.

     Another bit found Trevor playing a dying soldier who narrates a letter to his wife. This one has a few fun twists, with the switching back and forth from the man on the battlefield to the wife reading the note happening at strange times, keeping you guessing what exactly happened to the solider. He is dead, but there are a couple of misleading moments before the real cirumstances surrounding death are revealed.

     As far as offensive material goes, the worst may have been Songs of Olden Times, which is a commercial for a made up collection of songs evoking values from an earlier period of history. Among the tracks was a duet between a child bride and her adult groom, with an actual child singing with Trevor. Another song spoe of banishing women on their periods into the woods.

     But the funniest two sketches of the night seamlessly combined some really hilarious material with drug references and, of course, more sexual innuendo. One was a black and white sitcom-like video portraying a young, charitable Adolf Hitler who is corrupted by drugs into being the evil man history remembers him for. Another sketch was a commericals for the Finger Ring Friends. Just try sayting 'finger ring' out loud, and it's easily possible to imagine where this joke went.

     If any of the above sounds like your type of humor, and granted, the show is not for everyone, be sure not to miss the finale season of The Whitest Kids U'Know, airing Friday nights at 10:30 p.m. ET on IFC.

     If you like my reviews, please follow me on Twitter!

     Click here for all of my Current Season Reviews.