''I'm with Busey'' is a

mockumentary A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...

television show A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

which aired on

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

in mid 2003. It revolved around a young writer named Adam de la Peña, who met and befriended his childhood idol, actor

Gary Busey William Gary Busey (; born June 29, 1944) is an American actor. He portrayed Buddy Holly in ''The Buddy Holly Story'' (1978), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and won the National Society of Film Critics Award fo ...

. The show has only one season, and the popularity of the show was limited, It has developed a cult following in the years after its cancellation. __TOC__

Format

The show focuses on Gary Busey teaching Adam de la Peña about life. In one episode, for example, de la Peña complained to Busey about his lack of a love life. Busey helped him become more confident by setting him up with a date and then feeding him lines through an earpiece. Busey told him to tell the girl that he had "a

Loch Ness monster The Loch Ness Monster (), known affectionately as Nessie, is a mythical creature in Scottish folklore that is said to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is often described as large, long-necked, and with one or more humps protrud ...

in his pants". Much of the humor revolves around Busey-isms, short statements about the world. For example: "Fear is the dark room where the devil develops his negatives." After such a phrase, the camera cuts to de la Peña's confused reaction, or to one of his short, confessional-style monologues. Many of these Busey-isms were later repeated during Busey's appearances on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

's ''

Celebrity Fit Club ''Celebrity Fit Club'' is a reality television series that follows eight overweight celebrities as they try to lose weight for charity. Split into two competing teams of four, each week teams are given different physical challenges, and weighed ...

''. The show appears as real as possible. However, it was later revealed that much of the show was

improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

. Busey and de la Peña agreed on a scene's contents, and then improvised their lines.

Episodes

Each episode has a topic of Adam's or Gary's choosing.

Reception

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

's Phil Gallo described ''I'm with Busey'' ”as low grade as television will allow.”

References

External links

* {{Comedy Central programming Comedy Central original programming 2000s American mockumentary television series 2003 American television series debuts 2003 American television series endings American English-language television shows