On Thursday night, the Greatest Event in Television History aired. Well, kind of. That's the official title, and while the short special starring Adam Scott and Paul Rudd was indeed great, there have been better. If you're not familiar, GEITH is a recurring Adult Swim special created by Scott and his wife Naomi that recreates the opening credits of classic TV shows. This Thursday was the fourth installment and as great as it was, it can't compare to the GEITH that was truly TV's best event.
All four have been excellent, starting with the October 2012 remake of the Simon & Simon credits starring Scott and Jon Hamm. The specials are pretty short, with a 10-15 minute countdown that shows what was going on behind the scenes, before launching the highly-anticipated credits. The best part of each special is how seriously everyone involved takes it. From recurring host Jeff Probst to the director and actors, everyone there knows that they are part of history in the making.
This latest special was no exception. "Bonafide movie star" Rudd and "ex-smoker" Scott came together for the fourth, and possibly last, installment to do a shot-for-shot remake of the Bosom Buddies title sequence. Rudd's acting style is so intense that he's been compared to Daniel Day-Lewis (by himself) and completely immersed himself in the character, Tom Hanks' Kip, and the 1980s setting. Watching Rudd live as Kip was easily one of the best parts of this GEITH, especially when he moved in with Scott and his fictional wife, played by June Diane Raphael.
Raphael was one of many amazing guest stars, including Billy Joel, Community's Gillian Jacobs, Mo Collins, Saturday Night Live's Aidy Bryant and the original Bosom Buddies themselves, Hanks and Peter Scolari. You can watch the full special below.
Yes, it's great and absolutely hilarious, but it's the second GEITH that is actually the greatest. In that special, which benefits from a longer running time, Scott and Amy Poehler recreate the opening credits of Hart to Hart, and reveal their deep hatred for each other. To compare, the superior GEITH is below.
The two other specials are also available online and though not as perfect as the one that stars Poehler, they're definitely worth the watch. Find out how Hamm died in the Simon & Simon special, and watch Jon Glaser attempt a life-threatening couch flip aongside Catherine O'Hara, Chelsea Peretti, Jason Mantzoukas and Kathryn Hahn in the Too Close for Comfort installment.
Scott claimed that Bosom Buddies would be the last GEITH, but there's a very good chance he'll come back with another set of guests and another credit sequence to remake. Each one may not actually be the greatest event in television history, but they're all better than some of the shows on TV right now, and we'll take as many as we can get.
Image: mradamscott/Twitter
