Last Laugh

Do you have any favorite episodes?
Odenkirk: I have some favorites. The one this year with the prenatal pageants. The next couple of upcoming ones I'm really proud of.

On the surface, it might seem you're testing the waters of good vs. bad taste.

Odenkirk: When we're provocative or whatever, we try to think about what we're saying, or why. Usually there's a point being made or it's so silly that you can't really get upset about it. We have whole episodes that have no swearing in them. We don't just do it, like, "When do we get to swear next?" If we're writing a scene and the character would use foul language, we let him use foul language because we can. We have some rules, but they're our own rules; no one put them on us. We don't do impersonations, really. We sort of create an alternate universe. We try to reflect general social trends and not do topical stuff; that's Saturday Night Live's area. I think we touch on things that are sort of political issues, or important cultural issues. We want to create a show you can watch on tape -- because God knows nobody's watching it now.

Mr. Show can be seen on HBO at 11 p.m. Mondays.