Patton Oswalt unleashes Twitter wrath on TV network that screwed up his comedy special

Comedian Patton Oswalt slammed EpixHD, the streaming channel that was supposed to release his latest comedy special, on Twitter last night because it failed to promote and even show the special on the right date.

Uh, yeah...sorry guys. @EpixHD fucked up. My special airs TOMORROW night, 10pm EST. NOT tonight. Watch @parksandrecnbc instead.

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) January 17, 2014

Oswalt had commenced a countdown to the special, “Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time,” and when it ended, the special was still not up on Epix’s site.

“Embarrassed” (his word) by the incompetence and by fans in his mentions complaining, Oswalt began describing a fake version of his special.

Okay, so, Led Zeppelin's "No Quarter" plays in its entirety (250K). Fog. During the closing riff, I rise from the floor, nude... #special

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) January 17, 2014

Even though he was joking, he was understandably pissed and began tweeting anger at the company. He said the special was his first and last with Epix.

Hmm... The countdown clock was a failure. Just 'cause @EpixHD is completely incompetent, doesn't mean you, the customer, should suffer...

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) January 17, 2014

As soon as he finished ranting, the special went up.

And now they just put it up on their fucking website. Seamless launch, @EpixHD. GODDAMIT: http://t.co/wZcuKDk2BT

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) January 17, 2014

But was the Twitter rant planned all along? Comedy journalist Sean McCarthy of The Comic’s Comic jokingly called Oswalt out for using the “Twitter rant” to promote his new special, saying the comedian manufactured his outrage so the media would cover the premiere. And indeed, more blogs and sites have written about Oswalt’s anger at Epix than about the special itself, thus promoting the special. Could be excellent viral marketing.

Congrats to @pattonoswalt on his ninja ability to troll the trolls of new media, thereby giving his new @EpixHD stand-up hour more coverage.

— Sean L. McCarthy (@thecomicscomic) January 17, 2014

 Photo via Jason Carlin/Flickr