Dr Ho: License to Practice is the fourth episode of Season 5 of the JonTron Show. In it, Jon does a review of another infomercial, much like the Flex Tape video. In said infomercial, Jon is advertised a product that will supposedly reduce back pain. In actuality, the product is a mere scam and takes the form of a glorified airbag not unlike an oversized blood pressure device.
This episode is sponsored and includes an advertisement for the mobile game, RAID: Shadow Legends. More information can be found below.
Plot[]
Following a sponsored message for the game RAID: Shadow Legends, the episode begins proper with Jon doing a trademark James Bond Gun Barrel scene where in he becomes crippled by back pain. After an intro, he remains standing, hunched over, unable to move. Once Jon realises he's staring into a gun barrel he pushes through the pain and gets the hell outta there.
Cut to Jon's living room, where he introduces Dr. David Ho, an Asian Entrepreneur (scam artist) trying to make it big (scam people) with his medical product (scam). Jon makes sure to make fun of the guy's name by calling him "a ho" and his occupation, calling him a chiropractor (which have somewhat fallen under scrutiny in recent years). Dr. Ho sells a patented "Decompression Belt" -- that is to say, a heavyweight champ wrestling belt fitted with a blood pressure device that, in theory, is supposed to lift the spinal columns to relieve pressure on the lower back and pelvis. This sounds reasonable, except for the fact that it doesn't work. Jon pulls up the infomercial for the audience's enjoyment.
The video begins with a man named John Cremeans welcoming the viewer to the video, which is called "Living Without Back Pain". Jon is immediately thrown off by the fact that the program would be hosted by someone other than the guy who invented the product. This is actually a common practice, but the fact that Jon is so utterly baffled is genuinely hilarious, so he gets a free pass. Dude's been watching too many Phil Swift infomercials.
John goes on to ask if the viewers suffer from Back, Hip, or Leg pain. To this, Jon reveals he has mental health afflictions...
John then makes the usual claims in advertising which blow feelings out of proportion in hopes of gaining an emotional resonance with their audience, which would then lead to them more likely purchasing the product. Shady stuff. Jon lampshades this by rewording it as if the person suffering from leg pain has virtually become a different person and has hurt someone that they love because of it.
Creamy Boi then begins to introduce Dr. Ho, who is shown in a series of snippets providing back massages, neck popping and showing off patches. Poor Jon is terrified and confused at the sight of Dr. Ho doing what appears to be back-side CPR, worrying that the man may already be too far gone. John then mentions that Dr. Ho apparently studies clinical science, overlaid with footage of Dr. Ho mixing liquids in a stereotypical science-y manner. Much science indeed, Jon.
The next clip shows Dr. Ho helping a woman to relieve pain by lifting one of her legs. However, the thing about this that catches Jon's attention is the exorbitant amount of Pharmaceutical Degrees in the background. He brings up the fact that, the shadier the doctor, the more degrees they'll have in any given shot to try and cover up for their incompetence. This segues into a skit where Jon poses as a doctor named "Jay Teegh" (likely pronounced JT) who is being interviewed. He suddenly cuts the interview and requests that the camera be turned to show off a wall covered from top to bottom in PhDs. He rudely remarks that his patients' complaints are not his problem, pointing to his degrees as proof of this. He then walks out into a hall with countless degrees plastering the walls, ceiling and floor. Jon inevitably steps on and breaks one, but retorts that it was a measly couple bucks online, and that he'd have a replacement in no time.
We then jump back to the commercial, where John welcomes on stage, Dr. Michael Ho, who enthusiastically waltzes on-camera and shakes John's hand. Jon points this out, noting how unnatural it was that he was so ready to come on. When asked how the belt works, Dr. Ho begins by explaining that most back pain is caused by muscle tension, stiff joints and...well...he says "degenerative disks" but his accent makes it sound like "Degentive Tests" or "Degentive Tears", something Jon points out.
Furthermore, Dr. Ho's repeated usage of twisting and pulling gestures with his fists makes Jon uncomfortable. He compares this to a spine-ripping fatality from Mortal Kombat, although he forgets who performs it, stating Scorpion, when it's actually Sub-Zero (though the cameraman thinks he's referring to Predator, which isn't incorrect).
The commercial goes on to talk about medical fallacies, such as the supposed belief in a pill for back pain, which leads into another depressing Joke with sad music. Jon starts cockily calling scam on Dr. Ho's practices in the meantime.
(More to come.)
Sponsored Message[]
This episode of JonTron included a sponsored message by Plarium Global Ltd. for their mobile game, RAID: Shadow Legends. The game is a free-to-play mobile RPG with a gacha system for unlocking new characters.
Jon was granted specialised download links for the games in his video description. For a limited time, players who downloaded the game via one of those links, can get a head start in the game with a money bonus.
Trivia[]
- Running Gags:
- Jon saying something depressing, prompting a small snippet of a sad keyboard piece, (specifically Arieth’s theme from FF7,) to play before smash cutting to something else.
- Jon screaming "Stop it, Timmy!"
- Jon referencing Notre-Dame.
- This episode features two untimely references to Notre-Dame and was released on the same day as a large fire had started at the cathedral, destroying a significant portion of it. Given the length of time episodes take to produce, it was most likely pure coincidence.
- This episode marks the first of, so far, two instances of Sergio making a bad correction on something Jon says. Here, Jon relates chiropractic therapy to Sub-Zero's iconic Spine-Rip Fatality. At the time, Jon fails to remember the character, and while assuming it's Scorpion, Serg, out of left field assumes Jon meant the Predator, who is in Mortal Kombat X as DLC, but Jon's oblivious reaction solidifies his reference to Sub-Zero.
- This occurs a second time in The REAL Story of the Pilgrims.