“Awesome 10 Year Anniversary Version” plays like an Awesome Show’s greatest hits in a lot of ways. Classic staples from the series are back, like David Liebe Hart, more of Pierre and his dad-hungry antics, and thankfully another dose of the Uncle Muscle Hour with Casey (who seems to be holding up great post-resurrection) and his brother. There’s another installment of “Brule’s Rules” even though the events of Check It Out! say that good ol’ Stevie should be locked up in prison at the moment. Plus, many of the same recurring “extras” and supporting cast that have filled up their commercials and material in the past are back as well.

There are also plenty of other welcome faces, like the return of Will Forte’s deeply damaged Will Grello (although it’s the weakest of his appearances, in my opinion) or learning that B.M. Fhartz is still making flawed scatologically-based products. “Spagett’s 10th Annual Spooktacular” is probably one of the better takes on the show’s many returning characters. The world seems to have moved on in the years since the prank-centric character was last seen. The sketch takes a wonderfully aggressive turn and it contains some of the best material from the whole special. The people being pranked who are immune to Spagett’s “comedy” are the surrogates for every person who’s never laughed at Tim and Eric. Their portrayal here is a reminder that Tim and Eric are smarter than so much of their material and that part of the gag here is that they’re making fun of this infantile style of humor.

Another popular recurring sketch, the Mahanahan Child Clown Outlet, returns and it’s bigger and more upsetting than ever. The latest offering of Steve Mahanahan is allowed to reflect on the dark turns that have befallen the Mahanahan family through the years. There’s definitely a dark energy coursing through the erratic greenscreened insanity. The consistent air horn-infused broadcasting of “Behind Close Doors, Do What You Like” is straight-up unsettling, too. Following this up shortly after with the terrifying karaoke video, “Spaghetti Again” is also a bold move. The performances there are extremely real and unnerving and God bless them for that.

This special is even sure to include old recurring non-sequiturs like “Morning Meditation” and “Video Match: A Dating Service” as knowing nods to this faithful audience. A classic Awesome Show episode would include these segments, so of course they’re here, too. The special goes out of its way to capture that old Awesome Show feeling right down to the smallest detail. Additionally, the new ground that the episode explores is a lot of fun. “Barry’s Stems” with Barry Stem is certainly a strange inclusion for the show, but it’s a fun slice of weirdness. Frankly, it played better for me than the “Tiny ‘Ghini” musical interlude, even if that song is still burrowing deep into my brain.