David Cross and Bob Odenkirk talk Canada and their new Netflix series

TORONTO – David Cross and Bob Odenkirk have some thoughts on Canada they’d like to share.

On the phone recently to discuss their new Netflix sketch comedy series “W/ Bob & David,” premiering Saturday, the Emmy-nominated duo behind the 1990s HBO series “Mr. Show” riffed on Canadian politicians as well as Toronto rapper Snow.

They also praised the freedom they have with their new series, which includes guest stars Jeffrey Tambor, Keegan-Michael Key and Paget Brewster.

Cross: I just wanted to, before we get into this, congratulate you on your new — is it el presidente, the official thing is?

CP: Oh yes, our prime minister, Justin Trudeau. Are you happy to see him in office?

Odenkirk: I don’t care about that guy. I want more Rob Ford (former Toronto mayor), for the world. For the world. Can you guys elect Rob Ford to be the U.N. ambassador, please?

Cross: This is David Cross, here … saying, way to go, Trudeau. Now, let’s get ‘Informer’ (by Snow) back into the pop charts.

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CP: What was your approach with this show, compared to “Mr. Show?”

Cross: No wigs. I was saying to Bob that if we had a character that had different hair, we would have to take the time to grow out that hair naturally. And that was our main rule, was no wigs. Because you can tell it’s a wig and then it just takes you out of the scene.

Odenkirk: We didn’t have rules, honestly. That is really, truly one of the differences between this show and the old show, “Mr. Show,” which had a format that we stuck to and lived by, with kind of an introduction and a linking of the sketches, one to the other, and other things that we really were trying hard to do.

This one, we really just wanted to have fun and make ourselves laugh. Sometimes the sketches link up and they have a resonance with each other, and sometimes they’re just funny and we don’t really care about any rules on this one.

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CP: Did you feel like you had more freedom, you were able to go with the “no rules” approach, because you are on Netflix?

Cross: Even if we weren’t on Netflix, that’s just what we do.

Odenkirk: But also, there is a very concrete way in which we had more freedom, which is, they don’t have a time limit. Some of our shows are 35-minutes long, these episodes, and the old show or any half hour on TV is between 21 and 24 minutes long.

So we had a very clear form of freedom in that we could make an episode anywhere from 22 minutes to 35 minutes, 40 minutes if we wanted.

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CP: What makes you click so well, as comedy collaborators?

Cross: We share a kidney.

Odenkirk: Where is the kidney right now, David? Do you have the tracker?

Cross: Yeah, I was actually just looking it up. It just passed Lincoln, Nebraska. That was literally 10 minutes ago.

Odenkirk: Are you getting it or am I getting it? I can’t remember. But the answer to that question: we’re a good team. I think we have a very interesting mix of silliness and cultural, relevant interests. We both watch a lot of news and like to comment on what’s happening, in the TV show.

Cross: We both think we’re both very funny, which is helpful. And quite often you’ll find that one of us will finish each other’s…

Odenkirk: Words.

CP: OK, that’s good. Thanks so much.

Odenkirk: Say hi to Kids in the Hall for us.

— This interview has been edited and condensed.