In 1968, Andy Warhol said, "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." I can only assume that this was a flippant remark aimed at the tastes of bourgeoisies of the time. What would Warhol think of our world today when his famous quote has proven to be true thanks to the many advances in technology. The internet and its many social media devices have given voice to many, many people who have done very little to become famous, and yet, we can’t stop paying attention to these individuals. Their 15 minutes of fame is stretched a little longer when it is featured on Tosh.0, one of several TV programs which focuses on internet videos. The show has become a hit for Comedy Central, which is striking while the iron is hot and releasing the show to Blu-ray Disc.

Tosh.0 is hosted by Daniel Tosh, a stand-up comic who gained popularity through several successful Comedy Central specials. The show’s concept is fairly simple -- they show viral videos from the internet and Tosh makes fun of them. This concept makes up about 60% of the show. And the more vulgar and disgusting the video, the better. Also, Tosh and his crew seem to really like videos where people get hurt. Tosh’s jokes are often very sophomoric, but a few are clever. The first segment of the show, which is comprised of these videos, often ends with Tosh either showing a video and seeing how many jokes he can tell about it in 20 seconds, or a “Video Breakdown”, in which he analyzes where the person in the video went wrong -- typically right before they got injured.

The middle portion of the program is devoted to a “Web Redemption”. In this segment, Tosh reaches out to an individual who has made a fool of themselves in a viral video and gives them a second chance. The person is brought to Los Angeles where Tosh often stages an elaborate showcase for the guest to set things right. Some of the videos are often several years old, but that doesn’t stop Tosh from bringing the person in. The last segment of the show features a “Viewer Video” where Tosh shows a video sent in by a member of the public and he often shows off things from his Twitter account.

OK, first things first -- Isn’t this show just a rip-off of Vh-1’s Web Junk 2.0 which was hosted by the late Patrice O’Neal with a little bit of The Soup thrown in for good measure? Yes, yes it is. However, there are some subtle differences. First of all, Tosh.0 often goes for broke and shows outrageous videos, some of which have to be optically fogged due to their content. They clearly push the Comedy Central censors as far as they can go. These videos are accompanied by Tosh’s comments, which are often very risque themselves. Just as in his stand up, Tosh loves to push people’s buttons when it comes to topics like race and sexual orientation. The “Web Redemption” segment is the most original portion of the show. Plenty of programs have made fun of videos featuring strangers -- how many have invited them onto the show?

Again, Tosh.0 has become immensely popular, but is it funny? The answer is, sometimes. As with any show like this, the level of the comedy can often depend on the quality of the videos being shown. Some of them don’t even need Tosh’s comments to be funny, while others serve as a jumping off point for the jokes. The show is often hurt by the more controversial videos, such as the many which show vomiting, as it feels as if the show is attempting to be shocking as opposed to funny. Tosh’s jokes vary in success as well. When they are clever and contain obscure references, they can be very funny. However, many are obvious and crude, which takes the show nowhere. The weakest part of the show, which is also the longest, is the “Web Redemption”. Tosh’s rant at the opening always has some good laughs (and usually contains a jab at a celebrity), but once the guest arrives, it goes downhill. This has to do with the fact that the guest often either doesn’t want to completely own up to the fact that they did something dumb which went viral, or they don’t seem to grasp that Tosh is making fun of them. These interactions can get painful, and most feel pointless by the end. The last segment of the show can contain some laughs, as it’s often very loose.

I was a fan of Daniel Tosh for years before Tosh.0 and I was somewhat disappointed when I learned of the show’s format. However, Tosh has made it his own and when this show is funny, it is hilariously so. But, one has to wade through some lame jokes and the “Web Redemption” to get to the funny, and it’s not always worth it. In the end, every episodes has at least one joke worth repeating and one which will make you say, “They can’t say that on TV!”

Tosh.0: Deep V’s makes me wonder how it can be cost-effective to fly some of these people to Hollywood on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Comedy Central Home Entertainment. The two Disc set contains all 16 episodes of this portion of the show’s second season. The episodes have been letterboxed at 1.78:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 20 Mbps. The video quality here varies due to the different videos being used. The segments with Tosh are sharp and clear, showing no grain or defects from the source material. Other than some shimmering, they look fine. The videos run the range from sharp to just being a jumble of pixels, but again, that has nothing to do with the transfer. The Disc carries a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 1.5 Mbps. This track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The bulk of the audio comes from the center channel. We get some crowd noises from the front and rear channels. The show’s theme songs offers nice bass effects.