MovieChat Forums > The Eric Andre Show (2012) Discussion > Is this show set in Hell/Purgatory?

Is this show set in Hell/Purgatory?

posted 9 years ago by ColtyTP
13 replies | jump to latest

I read some creepypasta theory that the show is actually Eric stuck in Purgatory or Hell. The hints being that at the start of every episode he smashes everything in desperate rebellion of the endless cycle that he is in. It's all in vain as right after he is done smashing things mysterious forces simply reset the stage back to normal and he is forced to do a monologue and start the show. Note how unwilling he is at first, but then Hannibal (probably a demon) reminds him that he has no choice. He has supposedly been doing this for thousands of years and now has eventually gone insane leading to the randomness and inanity of the show.

Eric gets tortured throughout the show while the demon Hannibal sticks back and couldn't care less. Sometimes even enjoys it.

Eric seems to be used to this and for the most part accepts it and plays along, but some guest stars get really confused:
Take for example the cooking segment Rory Scovel. He has a mental breakdown and is rambling on about there being no god and "when we *beep* die that's it". In the same episode T-Pain looks around confused and says "what is this place" and later says "someone better tell me what the *beep* is going on or there's going to be trouble". Seemingly getting worried by the abnormality and seemingly impossible things that are happening around him.

Through his street segments he is tortured too. Someone even said "I'm glad he's dead" when Eric asked what people think of him during a street segment. Also in the episode where he was dressed as the statue of liberty he furiously pukes at random and at the end yells out for help only to appear back in the studio again. Forever.

Thoughts?

[–] klondike99 9 years ago

The surreal randomness reminds of the Dada movement and post modern absurdness of post WW1 asthestics. The hell or purgatory sense you mention is more a reaction to the vacid insipid reality of our lost of trad Christian values through existential and deconstructive tropes of modern mores and technoligy . Using the talk show format, TEAS weaves a formidable force of the said asthesics.

[–] FromHeroesToDust 8 years ago

You both need to step the *beep* back from your computers.

[–] ColtyTP 8 years ago

U-huh? Season 4 Episode 1. He gets thrown around and tortured right away yelling "what are you doing?". He then cries out "help me" to Hannibal, but Hannibal doesn't care. Then he goes on to the monologue where he looks all frustrated and says "it never ends".

The bit ends with him singing this bizarre "we are all happy and very well fed" song, during which he gets poked with a taser making it look like he is forced to do it with that cringe/fake smile on his face.

He is in Hell.

[–] seanfinnau 8 years ago

Plot twist

ayy

[–] redska 8 years ago

I think you're over thinking it just a tad. Chill out melato.

[–] Twelve_Parallax_Seconds 8 years ago

I really like the idea, and it seems plausible. The repetetive nature of the punishments and general randomness goes along well with how hell is depicted in literature. Now I see the show in a different way, and it actually improves my experience of it. Thank you!

I could imagine the guests also being doomed to hell, but their personalized hell is to visit crazy and unpredictable talkshows like this for all eternity. Doing the talk show circuit is usually required by, for instance, a movie company and is often a chore for the actors.

But do you really think this concept is the intention of the creator? For some reason I don't see Eric André as a person who has the capacity to create something that well thought out. But maybe I'm just ignorant; I don't know him or his work well enough to actually form an opinion on that matter.

[–] ColtyTP 8 years ago

I could imagine the guests also being doomed to hell, but their personalized hell is to visit crazy and unpredictable talkshows like this for all eternity. Doing the talk show circuit is usually required by, for instance, a movie company and is often a chore for the actors.

Yeah, I can see that. In one episode during an interview Questlove randomly asks "Didn't he die?" about the interviewee. Now suddenly that random ass joke is creepy as hell, lol.

But do you really think this concept is the intention of the creator?

I honestly don't think it is. If it was he should really be thinking about a reveal quick, because who knows how long this show will last for. Pretty much my only hope is that he somehow notices this theory, likes it and brings it to life.

[–] ColtyTP 8 years ago

Okay did you guys see episode 9 from season 4? That monologue. Just check it out and think about it for a second. Amazing.

[–] Twelve_Parallax_Seconds 8 years ago

I know, right! I just watched it and had to come back here to see if anyone else reacted to it the way I did. Eric asks Hannibal: "How do I get out of here?" Hannibal says "Do a monologue, man." As he approaches the mic it disappears and he falls into the abyss. And all that symbolic imagery after that? I mean come on, if that isn't hell I don't know what is.

As you pointed out in your original post, it seems that Eric has to do the monologue over and over again. I sort of sensed that Eric is led - by the demon Hannibal - to believe that if he does it just right, he will be free. The monologue and the destroying of the set is probably a reference to the greek myth of Sisyphus, the man who's doomed to roll a boulder up a hill for all eternity. Just when he reaches the peak, it rolls down and he has to start all over again. The movie Groundhog Day also comes to mind, which partly also is based on that myth.

I also spotted the jewish symbol for the word chai, meaning living, that also may be a reference to God. I saw some perhaps native american imagery and the dance sort of reminded me of something native american too. I don't know about the wolf/dog symbolism though. Do you have any suggestions or ideas?

[–] ColtyTP 8 years ago

The wolf thing could just be random nonsense.

I did find it interesting how Hannibal goes "HEY" as Eric is walking off the edge though. As if he is saying "Where do you think you're going?" and teleports him right back to force him to continue doing the monologue. Eric desperately cries out for help, but Hannibal remains unfazed and only continues *beep* with him knowing full well that he is not getting out. Tells him to shut up and keep doing the show.

Remember Season 2 Episode 3's monologue? Some of the crew members seemed to force him to kiss that mannequin as he cried through mind powers or something. Man, the creepy side of this show is really fascinating, lol.

I mean even if you look at the very first episode he tried to sneak away and escape at the end.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ColtyTP 7 years ago

No. In fact that would have been considerably more inconvenient and time consuming. You see I would have had to have gone through all the other threads to make sure that nobody else had already made the same thread or not. Aint nobody got time for that.

[–] Ray_BLOODY_Purchase 7 years ago

I like the idea of him being in some sort of horrible eternally cycling torture.

On the celebs, I dunno if I'd see them as dead too, but perhaps sort of "dimension-hopping"...as in, they're asleep and dreaming (nightmaring :P) when they enter his personal hell. I'd actually see that as even more horrifying, because it makes him even more alone than if the celebs are going through their own hell as well. It also brings up that creepy concept of being deleted...he is briefly in these people's minds...briefly gets to exist and matter and be a part of reality...but once they wake up and "leave" the show, they gradually forget it all and delete those memories, making him once again cease to exist (in reality)

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It's me....Bara...it's always bloody Bara!