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Favorite Comedies
News Radio
The best writing and low-key comic acting styles on television. Phil Hartman is the first comedian I've ever seen to have the brains to recognize that he does best in a character role rather than as lead. The whole ensemble is wonderful, playing characters who are eccentric but layered, and they are always given brilliantly funny but truthful things to say and do. This is what television was made for. The shock is that the network stuck with this show long enough for it to find its audience.
The Drew Carey Show
Who would imagine that this show would even be green-lighted, let alone get the trust from the network to get it past that first low-rated year? Unlike the loathsome Urkle (or however you spell it), this is a dweeb character who is a real person and who doesn't spend his life being ashamed of not looking like George Clooney. Drew Carey's comic timing is wonderful, making so-so lines come alive, and the ensemble is uneven but not annoying.
The danger is the "Fonz factor." Just as the character of the Fonz took over Happy Days until it was unwatchable (except by fans of that character), Mimi seems to be taking over The Drew Carey Show. What made her character work was that she was a constant irritation, a burr under the saddle — but lately the writers seem to think that she's the horse. This show will be ruined if they don't rein that character in and keep the focus where it belongs. Sure, I like salt on my steak, but that doesn't mean I want a whole spoonful of it.
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