Game Theory in Mr. Show
Not everyone will find it funny. And some bits just didn’t land. But at its best, the sketches on Mr. Show were pure comic gold.
Mr. Show was a highly satirical and often vulgar sketch comedy show that aired on HBO from 1995 to 1998. It was created by and starred Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, who are now better known for more current shows: Odenkirk as Saul Goodman on Breaking Bad and Cross as Tobias Funke on Arrested Development.
The quirky, irreverent, and over-the top comedy is what made Mr. Show so great. Some of the sketches also are textbook illustrations of concepts from game theory. Arguably this is coincidence, as Odenkirk and Cross probably did not consciously design sketches for use in economics classrooms.
But perhaps the game theory is not so coincidental. There is arguably a reason for why edgy comedic sketches end up being good case studies for game theory. The connection is this: game theory is all about considering situations with a given set of players, rules, and payoffs. Good comedy is about pushing the borders of those constraints, with the players being crazy and colorful characters, the rules being concocted and cleverly satirical constraints, and the payoffs being the unexpected, dark, and surprise twists that deliver the comedic payoff.
Some sketches never make it on-screen, which is the subject of Odenkirk’s and Cross’s new book. Below are the sketches that did make it on air in Mr. Show and contain themes from game theory.
Video: Mr. Show Change for a Dollar
Game theory concepts: Principal-agent problem, corporate organization charts, top-down hierarchy, corporate culture
Setup: Someone walks into a convenience store and requests change for a dollar. The inept employee ponders the decision and concludes this is way too difficult of a decision for him. He decides he should ask his boss. Consider the equilibrium if everyone transferred responsibility.
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