Back on Topps, a mockumentary about a real sports trading card company that has struggled to survive after that market all but folded in the early ’90s, follows the story of the fake heirs to the Topps Company fortune, Leif and Leyland Topps (played by identical twin comedians Jason and Randy Sklar), as they fight to retain their place within the company following a corporate takeover by Michael Eisner.
When the fictional Eisner hires a corporate stooge named Gaylen Briggs (Brian Huskey) to manage the newly acquired company, Briggs devises a way to expose the twins’ maladroit misadventures to the big boss. Episode 1 has the boys showing up for work per usual, only to discover that there’s been more than a few changes implemented at Topps, seemingly overnight. The documentary film crew that pounces upon them as soon as they disembark the elevator is, of course, their first clue. Thus begins the adversarial showdown between our loose-lipped protagonists and their tightly wound boss.
The Sklars do here what they’ve done best in past projects like ESPN’s Cheap Seats: They bust out their trademark fast-talking, sharp-shooting banter. And they have a formidable on-screen foe in Huskey’s Gaylen Briggs, a hyper-focused corporate machine who does not suffer fools (even well-meaning, wisecracking ones) gladly. Briggs is the perfect foil to the Sklars — his terse tirades and otherwise deadpan delivery thwart the duo at every turn. (Don’t miss the clip in which the bros riff on Star Wars and trash compactors, during which Briggs reveals himself to be an uber-nerd — but not in the way you might think.)
Foxsports.com was granted a 12-hour window of exclusivity for new episodes of Back on Topps prior to distribution via the usual suspects (YouTube, Hulu, iTunes, etc.) and the show’s own site. New episodes will continue to unfold on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a 17-episode run.
As a character within the series, Fake Michael Eisner believes the series will be great publicity for Topps. Real Michael Eisner believes the series (which is the most recent offering from his web show shop, Vuguru) will be great publicity for the real Topps, too.
The inevitable sports celeb cameos won’t hurt the chance of success here: Jordan Farmar was front and center in the first sneak preview clip, and the likes of Dennis Rodman, Russell Martin, Johnny Damon and Julio Franco are but a few of the guest stars awaiting their turn at bat. Yet this doesn’t appear to be a case of trying to wax an otherwise lackluster vehicle with a thick coat of celebrity shine. The Sklars and Huskey prove themselves stars in their own right. With any luck, the combination of talent from both the creative and athletic arenas will result in a home run for all involved.
