My bona fides:  I have been a fan of Tim and Eric from the “Tom Goes to the Mayor” days. I think they are comic geniuses.

Also, I hate writing criticism of creative efforts.  Creating content is extremely difficult.  It is a demanding, unforgiving bottomless pit.  It’s an ever-hungry monster.

“Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!” is one of my favorite programs of all time.  Seasons 1-3 are brilliant. Those episodes are some of the best TV in years.

Season 4 stinks.

It started off well. The first episode was very funny, but the episodes have been in steady decline since.

The show succeeds when it is satirically surreal — James Quall singing “Beach Blast,” Ruth Carr singing “Come Over,” “Candy Tails” with the “Candy Tales” cartoon tie-in, Casey and his brother, Jan and Wayne Skylar. The laughs come from bewilderment and the quick realization that the satire was perfect.

But the show has become sophomoric in season 4. It plays like a string of rude, lame SNL sketches. The show now is comprised mostly of shock-you jokes. Poop, child-death and sex jokes. It is comic material that a marginally creative 16-year-old extrovert would generate to keep the limelight at a party.

Shock laughs are the cheapest. The newest material is boring.  Nothing surprising happens anymore.

Up to now, you either hated Tim and Eric’s comedy, or it was exactly what you’d been waiting for.

They now have opened a grey area.