YMMV / Desus and Mero

• Awesome Moments: 2020, for all its worldwide horrors, turned out to be a major year for the Bodega Boys. It began with David Letterman as their season-opener guest calling them “the future of late night;” then the show’s pivot to filming remotely in light of the pandemic turned out to be a blessing in disguise,as it allowed Desus and Mero to bring back elements of their Viceland run that fans had begun to worry were falling by the wayside on the new show. And even in the midst of the pandemic, they still launched their own brand of bodega-themed ice cream; they partnered with Timberlands to make their own self-designed Timbs; they released their book God-Level Knowledge Darts: Life Lessons from the Bronx, which became a New York Times bestseller; their show was renewed for a third season on Showtime; and to cap it off, they interviewed none other than Barack O-fucking-bama - at Howard University, no less! The Brand is, indeed, strong. Oh, and Maurice DuBois finally interviewed them.
  • A year earlier, they made TIME’s list of the 100 most influential people of the year, with a blurb by Chris Hayes!
• Bizarro Episode: Or rather, "Bizarro Interview": as several YouTube commenters have noticed, during a number of Desus and Mero's press tour appearances for their book, God-Level Knowledge Darts, their dynamic switches a bit. Mero is more laid-back while Desus is a hypeman.
• Creator Backlash: Of a sort: while they were somewhat excited to have her on the show at the outset, they said Erykah Badu wasn't welcome back after her controversial comments about Hitler.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Their jokes cross the line so much it doesn't even exist at this point. Usually, Mero's the one dancing with controversy more on the show, to Desus' chagrin.
  • In terms of specific characters, Mero's Staten Island heroin addict, Michael Sal Anthony, which often provokes a groan (and uproarious laughter) from Desus.
• Heartwarming Moments: When New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that couples could get married over Zoom during the COVID-19 outbreak, Desus and Mero immediately said they'd get themselves registered as ministers and co-officiate a wedding for any members of the Bodega Hive who wish to tie the knot. Sure enough, they wound up presiding over the Zoom wedding of fans Aisha and Lauralee. This being Desus and Mero, they of course have fun with it (they each take one of the brides to a breakout room to enjoy some pole dancers), but it does get genuinely emotional when they read their vows. Mero even starts crying!

  • It then circles all the way back around into ridiculous when Mero does the ceremonial stomp on the glass in chancletas and cuts a hole in his foot...but he doesn't even care because, as ever, he's stoned out of his mind.

  • One of the Office Hours videos had them trying their staff's Thanksgiving potluck dishes. One staff member offers them a jalapeño-infused cranberry sauce, which they make a lot of fun of in spite of enjoying it. When it turns out their comments actually hurt her feelings, they feel guilty and bring her back in for a group hug and a sincere apology.
  • A remote shoot is briefly interrupted by one of Mero's kids. We briefly get to see a very different side of the gang, as Mero becomes more gentle (if still snarky) and Julia starts Squeeing about how cute he is.
  • A recent bit had the duo playing matchmakers for a blind date over Zoom. They seem genuinely invested in helping the would-be couple along and are delighted when it goes well.
  • Desus' Papa Wolf-level devotion to his dog. When discussing Lady Gaga's dogs getting kidnapped, he makes it abundantly clear that he's not above popping someone if they dare lay a hand on his dog.
  • Generally, Mero's relationship with his family and how he describes the joys of marriage (especially in God-Level Knowledge Darts) is very heartwarming, even if Desus counters with his freewheeling bachelor attitude.
  • The Rousing Speech Fat Joe gives the sports bar after the Knicks are third in the 2019 NBA draft is...surprisingly uplifting.
• Hidden Depths: Mero is actually a very talented graffiti artist. A video where the duo have the office hallways tagged by New York's top graffiti artists had Desus sitting and "supervising" while Mero actively collaborated with the artists, and displayed some seriously good calligraphy skills. There's reason to believe he designed the graffiti on their set as well, and his office whiteboard has been tagged with the signatures of his favorite graffiti artists.
  • Desus used to be a substitute teacher and has an English degree, so he enjoys sneaking his deep knowledge of literature and politics into jokes of the Sophisticated as Hell variety. He is also (as is Mero, but not to nearly the same degree), a gigantic sneakerhead, as evidenced by the gigantic wall of sneakers behind him during the remote shows, and was particularly excited when they got to design their own Timberlands.
  • Generally, both are incredibly well-informed politically and pop culture-wise. They're just as comfortable chatting it up with political commentators and journalists as they are with comedians and musicians, and for all their joking, they also have a tremendous respect for political activism and shut up when a point is being made.
• One of Us: The duo have many fans but shout-out to guests who, like Desus and Mero, hail from the Bronx, as their chemistry winds up being off the chains. Big examples include Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who showed up to do remote segments with them twice (including one where she briefly returned to tend bar at a local joint) and Desus' former classmate Chris Hayes.
  • They also love "inducting" non-New Yorkers into the Bronx brother-/sisterhood, with a particularly adorable example being Anna Kendrick, who gets her own Yankees sweater and Timbs and plays craps outside a strip club - all while being totally down and excited to do it.
  • Their interview style is also one that puts celebrities with a low patience for relentless press cycles at ease, as they're a lot more interested in just shooting the shit with them than promoting their projects (and the guests usually don't complain, especially when they're encouraged to indulge in some Hennessy). Bill Hader and John Mulaney both gave particularly great interviews because they're so comfortable around them.
  • Regarding specifically themselves, both are gigantic fans of baseball, basketball, all kinds of music (especially Hip-Hop), video games, old TV shows, anime, and "pinot" (aka porn). Segments can often devolve into a bottomless bit of references and bantering about all varieties of pop culture, which is part of the fun of watching them. At least ten minutes of their appearance on Questlove's podcast was spent discussing old video games and their favorite consoles.
• Squee: If you can believe it, probably the most hyped Desus and Mero have gotten for a guest is when adult film star Sara Jay dropped in as a substitute for Julia for the pre-show warm-up.
  • They also got very hyped when local CBS anchor Maurice DuBois, a frequent recipient of their shout-outs, reciprocated and threw in a few other D&M catchphrases. He received a full "We're not worthy!" from them. Watch the dopeness here. He later interviewed them, much to their delight.
  • Subverted but noted when the legendary Whoopi Goldberg dropped by for an interview. Mero remarked that if he hadn't smoked so much weed, he'd probably be losing his mind with excitement.
  • They became noticeably twice as respectful and downright reverential when Jon Stewart was a guest.
  • Desus specifically got very excited when Usain Bolt was a guest, given his Jamaican background (although Mero was excited as well).
  • They get very excited whenever they interview a hip-hop or R&B legend (such as the Beastie Boys, Erykah Badu, and Missy Elliott).
  • They experience a mutual Squee with Eric Andre, as they each seriously admire the other's work.
  • Both of them, but especially Mero, spend a lot of their interview with Eddie Murphy gushing about how much they love his work and how much he inspired them to pursue comedy.