Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule

Synopsis

The program follows Brule as he examines (or "checks out") different facets of living. His severe naïveté and social awkwardness generally land him in embarrassing situations, though he personally seem impervious to embarrassment. Each episode begins with a poem or lyric pertaining to the subject of the show. Dr. Steve Brule credits the work, usually mispronouncing the author's name; his mispronunciations are a staple of the show — in one episode, he mispronounced the name of nutritionist Dr. Johnny Boden (actually Dr. Jonny Bowden) both as "Dr. Jimmy Brungus" and "Dr. Jungy Brogan".

As the series progresses, he reveals shocking, and sometimes horrifying details about his past and personal life, such as his mother revealing that she would poison his food when he was a child to "slow him down." The series also has recurring characters names of Terry Bruge-Hiplo played by Robert Axelrod, as well as Doug Prishpreed, Carol Krabit and Scott Clam, played by actors Doug Foster, Carol Kraft, and Scott Stewart respectively. All four have interlude spots on the show announcing movie reviews, news updates, or fortunes, all in the same style of low-budget cable access segments.

Production

According to executive producer Tim Heidecker, Reilly interviews real people, with their reactions in the series being genuine. He stated that the humor revolves around "not necessarily fooling these people. It's more the character of Steve Brule being completely clueless and a really strange guy." Heidecker also stated that Brule's dialog for the series is mostly improvised. During an interview for Esquire, Reilly was asked about his experiences on the show. Although Reilly did not mind answering the question, he preferred not to elaborate on his character Steve Brule. He stated, "his persona would be more interesting if left a mystery", and felt the more he would elaborate on Brule's character the less interesting it would become to him.

To achieve the artifact-ridden quality of the video, the editors pipe their footage through a videocassette recorder; the post-production crew literally hit the recorder in order to simulate a jump in the vertical synchronization. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Heidecker elaborated on the aesthetic quality of the series: "It's a show that genuinely feels like this guy made it himself. It’s as if it's 4:30 in the morning he had snuck into the studio to make this show without getting permission. It's bare bones. Lots of technical problems. Just a mess. The whole thing is a big mess. A big beautiful mess."

Episodes

The series has completed four seasons with six episodes each. The first season premiered on May 16, 2010 in the United States; it concluded on June 20, 2010. The second season premiered on March 18, 2012 in the United States; its season finale aired on April 22, 2012. The third season premiered on February 27, 2014 and concluded on April 4, 2014. Adult Swim, in an announcement made before its upfront presentation, revealed Check It Out! to be a returning show for its 2015-16 schedule in May 2016. The fourth season premiered June 18, 2016. and concluded on July 29, 2016.

A 30-minute special entitled Bagboy aired on February 20, 2015.

Critical reception

The series has garnered positive critical reception; Ross Luippold of The Huffington Post gave the series a positive review; he noted Reilly's performance, stating he "may be the only actor alive who can get away with starring in critically acclaimed films during Oscar season ... while concurrently starring in two Tim & Eric joints." Lindsay Hurd of The Michigan Daily highlighted the stage design in her review; she stated "The show's set is just as amusing as Brule's lack of coherence ... [the series] amounts to a gaudy-but-comical set that oddly matches Brule's reporting style." Casey Burchby of DVD Talk "highly recommended" the series' first and second DVD release. He praised the eponymous character, stating "John C. Reilly's Dr. Steve Brule is one of the most likable characters in recent TV history." While he praised the series as "a rare example of a well-developed and justified spinoff", he found the series best enjoyed "parceled out one at a time".

The series has received positive critical reception from The A.V. Club; the site has graded the first season three As, two Bs and one C grade. Writing for the site, Brandon Nowalk felt the interviews for the second season finale "Life" accentuates "a different facet" of the series' humor: "1990s absurdism." He cited The Day Today and Brass Eye as two examples of this quality, while stating Brule's character is closer to Harry S. Plinkett than of Stephen Colbert or Sacha Baron Cohen. He later regarded its third season as "a little lighter on the laughs than usual", but found it "slightly better produced", with the audience "growing accustomed to the usual blunders."

In reviewing the first and second season D.V.D. release, Luke Bonanno of DVDizzy praised Reilly's character; however, he was critical of reprising the "bold characters" of Wayne and Jan Skylar from Awesome Show, stating that "such [characters] just aren't a good fit here and weigh down on the humor." He panned the network's lack of promotion for the series and wished for more episodes per season "even if making it with Tim and Eric had to be a creatively-liberating blast".

Dusty Somers of Blogcritics stated the portrayal of Dr. Brule "adds unexpected dimensions of naked vulnerability and a childlike fear of a world he doesn't understand." Dawn Hunt of DVD Verdict gave the series 95 out of 100; he applauded the series as an "homage to the local cable access shows of the 1980s." He compared the series to mockumentaries such as This Is Spinal Tap and stated that the visual look of the series "looks, feels, and sounds like it came straight from the MTV Generation."

Home release

The combined first two seasons were released on DVD on October 16, 2012 in Region 1. Entitled Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule: Season 1 & 2, the DVD features episodes in production order.