3 Swirlies

“All girls have a crush on Hotel Soap!”

Dr. Tran is visited by his “friend” Hotel Soap, who he (natch) has no memories of.

I like this one because it dips away from the formula of the other ones a bit, and Hotel Soap is a wacky, wacky idea. I just didn’t laugh as much as I would have liked. Having said that, this is still one of the cleverest series on the web, weird without being confusing. And it seems to be easily one of the most popular on the Watch List.

So enjoy! And keep an eye out for his little balls…

3 Swirlies

“Chocolate is forbidden”

I’d like to take a shit out of a helicopter.

Shane in San Diego writes to ask Dr. Tran about the breakfast specials. But do you know what’s really special… Dr. Tran. (And this is where helicopters and relieving yourself come into play.)

Good episode, even if it feels like the narrator is crowding out Dr. Tran from his own show.

3 Swrilies

“Black as the night you got cancer!”

Secret Agents Don’t Care!

Nancy writes to ask Dr. Tran if we would help her and the other kids in the Pediatric AIDS ward. Of course, Mr. Dramatic Narrator has others ideas.

Not the funniest Dr. Tran Mail, but it has a few good laughs. Poor Dr. Tran, all he wants to do is finish his chore wheel.

It strikes me that there’s an interesting element of Dr. Tran that seems to run through most successful stuff on the internet – the blending of real and not real. The conflict that drives Dr. Tran Mail is the two realities fighting it out, Dr. Tran’s reality that he’s a normal boy who wants to be left alone, and the narrator who insists he’s a secret agent and doctor, fighting America’s enemies.

Thoughts? Want me to shut up and just watch the videos? Yeah, I thought so…

3 Swirlies

“Dr. Tran will kill all of your mothers!”

This is the very first Dr. Tran Mail, and it sets up the structure for all the rest to follow.

Anthony from Ohio accuses Dr. Tran a killing his own mother with a lawn chair (which Dr. Tran denies) but then our dramatic narrator discloses Dr. Tran’s death list containing the names of the mothers he will kill.

It’s funny, fun, and under 2 minutes long.

Are there any fans out there who have watched Dr. Tran since his Lone Sausage days? I haven’t had a chance to watch any of them yet. How do these Mail versions stand up to the originalsof

4 Swirlies

“Why I have so an hard feeling…?”

Nice twist on an internet stand by.

The gag here is an internet advice show starring a little kid who doesn’t want to have anything to do with it.

There’s not really too much to say about it. It’s pretty funny, and the central gag of Tran desperately trying to refuse to do the show gives the whole thing an emotional center to it that helps carry the piece. That being said, this one beat over and over also makes the show a tiny bit on the predictable side. (Hmm… am I putting too much thought into a funny cartoon?)

In this episode, Keith writes in to say he understands Tran, and Daniel asks about boners, prompting the perfectly over dramatic narrator to reveal a few of Tran’s embarrassing secrets.

Well animated (as always from Mondomedia), worth watching and (at least as importantly) nice and short.

Have any of you ever written into an internet advice show? Let us know about it!