An Uninspired Prequel, Monsters University Disappoints.

The Good: The voice acting is fine, Animation is all right
The Bad: Dull and predictable story, Not funny, Not clever, Exceptionally formulaic character progressions
The Basics: Pixar’s latest box office triumph, Monsters University is likely to lose its staying power fast as audiences realize it is a movie utterly lacking in sparkle or originality.


When one watches a lot of movies, one quickly becomes attuned to the conceits of the various genres. Horror and science fiction movies have become such fodder for comedic parody because they have, largely, become so formulaic as to be unsurprising and utterly predictable. So, it is somewhat surprising when Disney/Pixar releases a new film that utterly defies the conventions of the genre. I’m not talking about the college buddy movie genre; Monsters University is so utterly formulaic in that regard that the premise could be written by a college freshman with just the basic line “We want to do a prequel to Monsters, Inc. that puts Mike Wazowski and Sully in college, where they are not initially friends. Seriously, a high school student could probably have pounded out the exact film Monsters University given that working premise. It is that predictable. No, I’m talking about the Disney animated movie genre. Monsters University certainly defies that, but not in a good way.

Sadly, Monsters University is without charm, humor, memorable music (it is not a musical), heartwarming moments or moments of visual spectacle. Unfortunately, Monsters University defies the traditional Disney conceits by creating a movie that is neither timeless nor significant, not original or even particularly memorable. And, it is worth noting that I enjoyed Monsters, Inc. (reviewed here!) and purposely did not rewatch it before taking in Monsters University so I would not be burned out on the characters or traditional issues I have with Disney’s animated “wonders.” This was a very pure viewing of Monsters University and as close to a review unbiased by the original as one could have while still knowing who the principle characters are.

Smaller than his peers at Frighton Elementary, Mike Wazowski nevertheless determines on a field trip that he wants to be a Scarer and attend the prestigious Monsters University. After sneaking into a child’s room from the scare floor on a field trip, he is given an endorsement by one of the scarers and is determined to make it in the future as a scarer. Years later, he successfully enrolls in Monsters University and enrolls in their scaring program. He hits it right off with his roommate, Randy, who is also training to be a scarer. One night, while Mike is studying, his dorm room is broken into by a giant blue monster chasing down a monster pig, the mascot of one of the other monster schools. He is James P. Sullivan and he instantly derides Mike for being in the scaring program because he is convinced that Mike does not have what it takes to be a scarer.

Sullivan’s trek through Monsters University hits a snag pretty quickly, though, when he tries coasting through Professor Knight’s Scaring class on his family name (he’s a legacy at the university). While Mike is booksmart, he cannot get any of the major fraternities to recognize him or his abilities, so he falls in with the outcasts. In order to prove himself worthy of remaining in the scaring program (and for Sully to get back in the good graces of Dean Hardscrabble), Mike and Sully team up with Squishy, Don, Terry (and Terri), and Art to try to help Oozma Kappa win the monster games. In the process, they become friends, Sully hedges his bets, and they all learn a very important lesson, blah, blah, blah.

Seriously, blah, blah, blah is part of the plot because the actual plot is so thin and short that the writers and director had to flesh the movie out with an extended sequence wherein Mike arrives on campus, a pointless twist near the end, and an adventure that follows the bulk of the plot (which is the monster games, which dominates the screentime of the film). As a result, the movie feels like a remarkably thin idea stretched out to reach just over a hundred minutes (probably because it would be virtually impossible to get people to pay for a 3-D movie at today’s ticket prices for the forty-five minutes worth of actual substance the film might have). The padding does not make a better movie. Instead, Monsters University presents one college cliché after another. In fact, the only one that comes to mind missing from the movie is the romantic subplot that would have pit Mike and Sully against one another for the affections of a woman.

There is nothing audacious on the character front. As a prequel, viewers already know that Mike and Sully will end up as friends. There is nothing incredible in Monsters University that illustrates the way they became friends was at all unique or compelling.

What Monsters University does have is a decent cast. The voice acting talents in the film are top notch. Led by Billy Crystal and John Goodman, the cast includes Helen Mirren, Steve Buscemi, Nathan Fillion, Alfred Molina, David Foley, Joel Murray and, very briefly, Pixar mainstay John Ratzenberger. All of them perform fine.

The only other note I have on Monsters University is on the animation. I recall being impressed when I saw Monsters, Inc. at the quality of the animation. I marveled at how every hair on Sully’s fur was rendered and appeared to move independently. Monsters, Inc. left me impressed. Monsters University did not. The animation did not seem as vibrant or spectacular somehow and the 3-D did not pop either.

In short, Monsters University, like Cars 2, seems to illustrate that Pixar needs to think long and hard about revisiting its most successful properties; not all of them are the cash cows they appear to be.

For other Disney animated films, please visit my reviews of:
Frozen
Wreck-It Ralph
Brave
Tangled
Toy Story 3
A Christmas Carol
Up
Ponyo
The Princess And The Frog
Bolt
WALL-E
The Incredibles
Lilo & Stitch
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Mulan
Hercules
The Lion King
Beauty And The Beast
The Little Mermaid
Lady And The Tramp
The Sword In The Stone
The Aristocats
Sleeping Beauty
Fantasia

3/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Superior Employee Of The Month: Mitch Rouse Makes A Refreshingly Dark Satire!

The Good: Funny, Dark, Well-written, Develops very well
The Bad: Moments of performance
The Basics: Employee Of The Month is a strong anti-capitalist satire that takes an abrupt, but well-constructed, turn in the last fifteen minutes into an entirely different type film.


For the last few years, pretty much since the moment we met, my wife has wanted me to watch the film Employee Of The Month. Initially, this made me queasy, as I thought it meant she liked films like the movie by that name with Dane Cook and Jessica Simpson (reviewed here!). Fortunately for me, she meant the dark satire Employee Of The Month with Matt Dillon, Christina Applegate, and Dave Foley. Also fortunately for the both of us, after years of waiting, Employee Of The Month lived up to her memories and my expectations.

Unfortunately, Employee Of The Month is a movie one cannot fully discuss or appreciate without spoiling the end. I, however, refuse to do that. As a result, I shall say that Employee Of The Month takes an abrupt left turn in the final fifteen minutes, turning from a dark, character-driven story of a man whose luck takes a turn for the absolute worst, into a Bound-like crime/heist film that bears almost no resemblance to the socially-relevant anti-capitalist film that preceded it. Without spoiling the end, one of the only real problems with Employee Of The Month (that can be discussed without ruining it) is that much of the film is telegraphed by the acting and the plot points. To be honest, I did not call the end (at all), but when the abrupt bank robbery occurs, the moment David’s body is taken by the robbers, the rest of the film did seem surprisingly formulaic.

It is not at all enough to make Employee Of The Month not worth watching. In fact, this is one of the best, underrated, films I have seen in quite a while.

David Walsh is an unhappy employee at North & Wells Bank, where he has worked for two years, struggling to get ahead. Two days before his benefits are supposed to kick in, he is fired by the head of the branch. His screw-up friend, Jack, who was responsible for the burns that David bears on half his body to this day, crashes his engagement party and makes his dislike of his fiancé, Sara, quite clear. But, the night he is fired, Sara’s parents come to town and Sara dumps David at the restaurant they have dinner at, using David’s affair with Wendy (who also works at the bank) as her primary reason for leaving him.

So, David gets a gun, spends the night hanging out with Jack, and prepares for the next day when he intends to go to work and kill his co-workers at North & Wells.

Employee Of The Month seems, for almost the entire movie, like a dark character study of a man who is pushed to the edge by a capitalistic enterprise that illustrates no real regard for the human cost of its own self-perpetuation. The forces at the bank that are most heinous to Dave, Bill (the manager) and his son-in-law, Kyle, are monolithically evil. Bill is racist, angry, and domineering and Kyle is an adulterous, slimy young man who only seems to have risen as high as he has because he is the manager’s son-in-law. Writers Jay Leggett and Mitch Rouse (who also directed the film), have real issues with authority figures and their hypocrisy, as Sara’s father, who is a priest, menaces Dave following their dinner together (with an especially personal threat of wishing he could set the man, who has visible burned skin, on fire!). Employee Of The Month is dark, but cuts deepest at the forces of power and control in the world.

In fact, part of what makes Employee Of The Month such an instantly, viscerally pleasurable movie is how it pokes at the institutions of power and control, especially capitalism, and explores how rebellion is inevitable. In fact, the presiding theme in Employee Of The Month is “they had it coming.” This is, in part, why the film seems so odd in the abrupt left turn that it takes near its (almost) end. But, once the reversal, that begins with Dave walking out of knocking out his boss and into the bank lobby where there is a robbery in process, occurs, Rouse and Leggett set the film up for all of the reversals that follow. In other words, Employee Of The Month is shockingly, delightfully, unpredictable . . . until the moment it mortgages its linear narrative that is building up to the “will he or won’t he” of the alluded-to killing spree at the bank for a caper film that is almost formulaic in its reversals of fortune.

That does not make it any less pleasant, though.

Employee Of The Month stars Matt Dillon in another one of his heavy roles, where he plays what appears to be a stone-cold killer with a very human heart and motivation. More than any other role I have seen Dillon in, his performance as Dave seems chameleonic; for too many of the beats, he seems to be playing Jim Carrey as Dave. Again, it is not bad enough to make the film not worth watching, but there were moments where he telegraphs his character’s next move with his eyes and plays the character in a way that seems far more like Jim Carrey instead of Dave.

Steve Zahn is likable, dark, and articulate as Jack and this is another memorable sidekick role for the actor. Christina Applegate is decent as Sara and it is always good to see Paul Dooley and Dave Foley on film. Despite its abrupt turns into a very different style of movie, Employee Of The Month remains compelling, engaging and, ultimately, worth watching on all fronts.

For other, similar, satires, check out:
God Bless America
Office Space
Matchstick Men

8/10

For other movie reviews, please visit my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Final Season Of NewsRadio Slips Some, Even On DVD, But It's Still Worth It!

The Good: FUNNY, Well acted, Decent serialization, Moments of character, DVD bonus features
The Bad: Plots are more standard, Problematic reshuffling of characters.
The Basics: With its final season on DVD, NewsRadio takes a slightly above-average sitcom and adds some wonderful bonus features to make a worthwhile buy.


Every now and then there comes a show that I enjoy more when I'm rewatching it on DVD than I did when it originally aired. Perhaps the most recent example would be with Alias. When I first watched the final season of Alias, I loathed it. When I picked up the boxed set of Alias - The Complete Fifth Season" on DVD (reviewed here!), it was tolerable and moments were even enjoyable. Unlike many fans of NewsRadio, who shunned the fifth season, I enjoyed the final season of the series and eagerly picked it up and have been rewatching it on DVD. It's a wonderful sitcom and the final season may slip into more average sitcom territory, but it is still far above any other straight-out sitcom that was on at the time.

Following the untimely death of Bill McNeal, Dave Nelson hires Max Louis as the new on-air talent to keep station WNYX afloat. Louis instantly antagonizes Matthew, flirts with Beth, competes with Lisa and challenges Jimmy for who might be stranger around the office. With the appearance of Max, Lisa finds her hands tied at work and surprised when a criminal mastermind, Johnny Johnson expresses interest in her following Jimmy's arrest as a suspected hijacker. With Jimmy on the run, Dave gets bad vibes from Johnny and sets to exonerating his boss with the help of the others at the office.

The fifth season of NewsRadio is easier to describe in terms of plot, largely because it is far more serialized than any of the prior seasons. In addition to the two episodes up front that focus on Bill's absence, there is a three-story arc with Johnny Johnson, followed later on by two follow-up episodes with him, and the two episodes that are effectively the series finale. The show's creator, Paul Simms, apparently disliked serialized episodes, but they work remarkably well for this series. It deserved the maturity of getting an adult audience vested in it with serialized plots that would bring them back each week. It may not have succeeded with the ratings, but it certainly makes this season work better as a boxed set.

The truth here is that the serialized nature of several of the episodes goes a long way to reviving what would otherwise be a pretty dismal set of episodic bits. Sure, "Flowers For Matthew" (a parody of "Flowers For Algernon," wherein Matthew becomes smart) is funny, but it's the exception to the rule for the episodic episodes in this set. Other episodes try to shake things up with Max and try to get humor out of Lisa going after a corrupt fast food restaurant, Dave and Jimmy becoming obsessed with white noise, Lisa taking on a Boston accent (no kidding, that is the a-plot of "Boston"), Jimmy hiring a security consultant and Matthew making himself up as a punk when he turns 30. Yes, some of the situations in this "situation comedy" become forced, making the comedy a bit more hit-or-miss, but there's enough to make it worthwhile.

Actually, the funniest line of the entire series is delivered, flawlessly, in the second to last (if the finale is looked at as one episode) episode when Matthew and Jimmy switch jobs for a week. In all honesty, the boxed set is worth it solely to see that episode and the moment Matthew explains what he did with Jimmy's seven billion dollar fortune. Hilarious.

But to truly understand where NewsRadio went right before it was axed, it helps to understand the characters. The principles for the fifth season of NewsRadio are:

Dave Nelson - The station manager at WNYX, he is in charge of hiring a replacement when Bill McNeal dies. His selection of Max Louis surprises most of the staff. While trying to convince Max that he hasn't been fired, Dave becomes addicted to white noise, works to keep Johnny Johnson at bay, fights his ex-girlfriend Lisa for a new apartment, and ultimately refuses to follow Jimmy and the staff to New Hampshire,

Lisa Miller - Getting more reporting jobs following Bill's death, she finds herself the object of Johnny Johnson's lust and considers using that to keep him from gaining power. As well, she takes up her childhood Boston accent, wears the same outfit as Matthew to the office, and has her puppy stolen,

Matthew - is convinced Bill is still alive until he is given proof he cannot deny. He has an instant hatred for Max and rebels against him constantly. As well, Matthew becomes brilliant, gets hypnotized and believes Lisa is a Satanist, decks himself out as a punk rocker and spends a week as a billionaire,

Max Louis - The new radio anchor, he has been fired by over thirty jobs in the past twenty years, which makes him neurotic about being fired. When Dave does not fire him, he settles in to annoying Matthew, flirting with Beth and starting his own vendetta against Jimmy's security consultant,

Beth - is weirded out by Max, but gets into a strange relationship of sorts with him. This season she demands Jimmy give employees a profit-sharing program, paints with Joe, and feeds Lisa's dog junkfood. As well, in "Freaky Friday," a CD club catches onto her scamming them and comes after her,

Joe - finds more time to paint and set up things like an internet camera in the break room. He also teaches Matthew his own martial art, "Joe-jitsu,"

and Jimmy James - The crazy billionaire who owns the station has reason to be crazy when his nemesis Johnny Johnson turns up to usurp his control of WNYX. In addition to fleeing the law when he is accused of being D.B. Cooper, Jimmy becomes addicted to white noise, works on his legacy and tries to get the staff to move to New Hampshire.

It is worth noting that Khandi Alexander, appears in the first episode of the season as Catherine Duke. Catherine left near the beginning of the fourth season and it was classy of Alexander to come back for "Bill Moves On." Also featured in a recurring role throughout the season is Patrick Warburton as Johnny Johnson. Warburton might be best known for voicing Joe on Family Guy but as Johnny Johnson he is hilarious in an over-the-top deadpan villain way.

Much of the plot and character development is a result of reshuffling due to the murder of actor Phil Hartman who played Bill in the prior seasons. In addition to ending his run as a voice actor on The Simpsons, Hartman's live-action career was cut short by virtue of him being dead. Jon Lovitz, who was a coworker and friend of Hartman from before they worked together on Saturday Night Live jumped in to fill the niche left by Hartman and Lovitz's Max Louis is certainly memorable (and no relation to either of the characters Lovitz had played in earlier seasons).

The acting in this season is good, but only Andy Dick truly has something different to do as the rest of the characters are pretty static for the season. The actors know their parts, are comfortable in their (very wonderful) ruts, but nothing in these episodes challenge them. Instead, they give great performances that make the viewer feel like they are returning (one last time) to the company of some good friends. Andy Dick becomes more like himself (or at least, his public persona) with Matthew's outrageous experimentations (smart, punk, rich) throughout the season.

On DVD, this set renews the confidence of the buyer in how generous the producers can be with bonus features. Despite what the box says, there are eight commentary tracks, a gag reel that is longer than most of the episodes (it becomes a little tiresome, but it is funny), and there's the One Man Newsradio segments. According to the box, there's deleted scenes, but I couldn't find them. The commentary tracks and other featurettes are decent and make the set worth buying for that alone.

The fifth and final season of NewsRadio is not the best season the show produced, but this is not an unworthy boxed set. Instead, this is a little above average with the DVD bonuses being decent, despite the deceptive packaging. And with the way the show ends, this easily became one of the Top Ten Shows I wish would return to television! A must for any fan of NewsRadio and a nice denouement for series. It's harder to sell this to fans of general comedy, but anyone who likes Jon Lovitz ought to pick this set up.

It's a nice end, though it would be nice to see where it could go.

For other works with Jon Lovitz, please visit my reviews of:
Southland Tales
The Benchwarmers
Farce Of The Penguins
Small Time Crooks
The Critic

5.5/10

For other television and film reviews, please visit my Index Page on the subject for organized lists!

© 2013, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Keeping Great Over Its Peak: NewsRadio - The Complete Fourth Season!

The Good: Funny, Good character development, Decent plots, Good performances, Good DVD bonuses
The Bad: Minutiae, Departure of Catherine, Could always use more commentaries . . .
The Basics: With twenty-two episodes, NewsRadio - The Complete Fourth Season shakes up WNYX and breathes new life into an already great sitcom!


You know the old saying, "Do don't know what you've got until it's gone?" I think with NewsRadio, that became true with the advent of the fourth season, now on DVD. Honestly, it's hard to pick out what Catherine Duke, the regal on-air talent that worked opposite Phil Hartman's Bill McNeal, did on her own in the series, but when she leaves only seven episodes into the new season, the show becomes diminished. It is not brought down with a giant cut, but it is slightly less that it was when she was around and as a result, it slips just perceptibly off the pedestal of perfection it had rooted on with the prior season of NewsRadio.

That said, it remains one of the most enduring and consistently funny television series' to ever grace television and to now become one of the most worthwhile investments on DVD. Honestly, one of the only real drawbacks of buying and watching this DVD set is that the viewer will want the other three that are available!

NewsRadio, for those who have not seen this comedic gem, is a semi-serialized situation comedy that takes place at New York City's WNYX news station. There, Dave Nelson runs the station under the watchful eyes of crazy billionaire owner Jimmy James and alongside an eccentric group of workers who all seem to have their own ambitions and opinions on where their lives - and the station - is going. Dave finds himself hampered by budget problems which immediately lead to Matthew being fired and an efficiency expert being brought in to evaluate the station and determine what can be cut. When the expert's analysis leads to a change in staff positions, WNYX is turned upside down!

NewsRadio is classified by me as semi-serialized because there is a pretty significant part of the show which is simply episodic. Every episode has a new situation to deal with. The fourth season is a bit more serialized because Matthew remains fired for several episodes, Andrea the efficiency expert is around for a while, and Lisa gets Dave's job, which shakes up the season for a while. In other words, there are story arcs that allow for there to be consequences of actions, a sense that the characters grow and everything is not neatly resolved by the time the closing credits roll. I like that about the series and it does lend it a quality of character many sitcoms lack.

The workplace comedy is, of course, nothing particularly new. However, what makes a workplace sitcom work - even when the plots are not terribly unique - are the characters and the performances. NewsRadio has a wonderful collection of characters performed quite well by some truly amazing comedic talents. With the sharpness of the writing and the delivery of the wit, NewsRadio manages to make old plots seem new again. But by and large, this show manages to be about the characters making decisions with comedic consequences rather than plot motivating their actions. Understanding who the principle characters are makes the show make a lot more sense. In this boxed set, the primary characters include:

Dave Nelson - The straightlaced and somewhat nerdy station manager of WNYX, he finds himself hampered by Andrea when she arrives to tell him how he is mismanaging the station. He and Lisa once again break up and when she replaces him as station manager, he finds it difficult to adjust to her management style and schemes to get his position back. He also finds he has to disappoint some old friends who want to restart their old barbershop quartet, reveals a new and impressive talent, and becomes threatened by a new intern,

Lisa Miller - Her neurotic desire to succeed at all costs is finally revealed in all its glory when her extensive criminal past resurfaces for a series of SAT-related crimes. It also comes out that she has some serious baking skills ("Is that lemon zest?") and does not need Dave or anyone else to succeed,

Bill McNeal - Delivers fake interviews with the President, swears on air and advocates beating foreign diplomats. Still, he is the on-air talent that is the biggest budgetary expense for WNYX and he even has ambitions to be station manager. Outside the office, he decides to adopt a child, attempts to become a singing political satirist, hits on Lisa, and he gives up smoking in favor of . . . shudder . . . chaw. And with the arrival of the new intern, he finds someone to scheme with,

Matthew Brock - Fired for his unending incompetence, Matthew becomes the focus of the staff's efforts to return the station to normal, especially after Catherine departs. Mr. James buys him a toy car, Matthew hits on Lisa, and gets a big brother. While away from the station, he works at a coffee shop and as a dentist,

Catherine Duke - While toughing it out with the efficiency expert, Catherine is offered an opportunity in London and, given the chance to get out of Bill's shadow, leaps on it,

Beth - The laid-back and somewhat lazy secretary continues to meddle in the affairs of Dave and later Lisa. She continues chewing her gum with mortifying consequences and becomes infatuated with Matthew's big brother. She comes into her own when she impersonates a duchess to bid on Jimmy at a charity auction,

Joe - The handyman finds himself missing Catherine most of all, especially when he realizes she might have reciprocated his love for her. Otherwise, he finds himself involved with a sympathy strike, reunited with his brother, and concerned he may have caused the death of an employee with one of his inventions,

and Jimmy James - The billionaire continues his crazy schemes, which include circumnavigating the Earth in a hot air balloon and retranslating the Japanese version of his autobiography (which was a success overseas) back into English. As well, he meddles in the relationship between Dave and Lisa to try to make his business plans work and he gives his nephew an internship at the station, much to the chagrin of his other employees.

NewsRadio has some of the fastest dialogue and most clever deliveries of any sitcom I've ever seen and it is worth noting that the performances often hinge on the deliveries and there's not a single bad one in this season. Instead, "NewsRadio - The Complete Fourth Season" once again illustrates just what happens when talented people are given great material.

Nowhere is this more true than with Stephen Root. Root plays Jimmy James and before NewsRadio, my only experience with him was watching him play a Klingon on Star Trek: The Next Generation's two-part episode "Unification" (reviewed here!). Here, Root is consistently funny because his character is scatterbrained and random and Root plays James with an authoritative tone such that whatever weirdness is coming out of his mouth, it sounds completely credible or like James believes it. Honestly, Root's performance in NewsRadio was so distinctive that when he first popped up in the sixth season of The West Wing (reviewed here!) as one of Arnold Vinick's two campaign assistants, he was both almost unrecognizable to me (it's weird seeing him play a sane character!) and a delightful surprise. Root makes the show worth watching episode after episode, disc after disc.

That's not to say that the rest of the cast does not deliver; they do. But Andy Dick settles into his rut as Matthew, as do Joe Rogan, Vicki Lewis, and even Phil Hartman in his final year. They are great ruts, but they offer little new as far as their performances go this year. Similarly, Dave Foley and Maura Tierney have great character aspects to play and their deliveries are wonderful, but they are performing at a level of greatness the viewer has pretty much come to expect from them as opposed to honestly surprising us with something new.

But that ought not to scare away viewers. NewsRadio is one of the funniest shows of all time and on DVD it gets good treatment with ten of the twenty-two episodes having commentary tracks that are informative and entertaining. There is also a pretty standard gag reel and a short film which is funny. This set is a little lighter on extras than some of the prior ones, but it is still not bad. I love commentary tracks and find myself wishing some of the episodes that lacked one had a commentary, but for the most part I find myself satisfied.

And for those who have not been fans of NewsRadio before now, there is no better time to jump in. This set stands up remarkably well on its own and is worthy of being added to anyone's permanent collection!

For other works with Andy Dick, please check out my reviews at:
Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil
Employee Of The Month
Hoodwinked!
Zoolander
Dude, Where’s My Car?
“Message In A Bottle” - Star Trek: Voyager

8/10

For other television and movie reviews, please check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Hitting A Stride, Hitting A High With NewsRadio - The Complete Third Season!

The Good: Hilarious, Well acted, Interesting characters, Good DVD extras, Funny, Decent plots
The Bad: Hmmm...I can't come up with any, sorry! (I could always use more commentary tracks!)
The Basics: NewsRadio hits its stride and peak with this boxed set that is as close to perfect as a comedy can get!


Sometimes, there comes a show that when it returns for the new season, a fan will sit, smile and be instantly transported to somewhere that feels familiar. There is a sense of homecoming when great television returns and in the case of NewsRadio, that sense of welcome and familiarity began the moment I put the first disc of season three into the DVD player. It felt like I was coming home to a place I had missed after replaying the first NewsRadio DVD boxed set (reviewed here!) over and over again for a few years. And the truth is, there came a point that I was hooked in the first Season Three episode. Jimmy James has decided to run for president and he is telling his staff about it. He says, "You know what's wrong with this country? Absolutely nothing." To which Bill McNeal responds, "Your complicated thesis intrigues me. Tell me more." in an overly serious deadpan that only Phil Hartman could pull off. And I spent the rest of the day and night as a NewsRadio junkie.

Yes, NewsRadio - The Complete Third Season is that good.

Dave Nelson continues to manage New York City news station WNYX while being micromanaged by station owner, crazed billionaire Jimmy James. While dating producer, Lisa, Dave is constantly stressed by managing the on-air talent, figuring out what Matthew is doing and making sure Joe keeps the station up and running. He reluctantly rallies the staff to have fun at the staff Halloween party, attempts to keep a bad magazine article from getting the staff down, leads the station to victory at an award's show, deals with a complaint box and tries to save Matthew from destitution from medical bills when he is injured. As well, the staff hallucinates when the air conditioning breaks down, the women have a photoshoot, and experience an alternate future.

This is a situation comedy that does not suffer from the predictability of most situation comedies. Instead, it is refined, biting, hilarious and consistently well-written. Equally important is the casting. They say that the better part of great acting is great casting and NewsRadio seems determined to prove that. The show features one of the ensemble casts that is a dream for a comedic writer. Look at the talent involved in this show!

Dave Foley stars as Dave Nelson. He's one of the comedic geniuses who made The Kids In The Hall (season two reviewed here!) so painfully funny. He has a disarming wide-eyed face and the ability to deadpan with precision and deliver sarcasm with a tone that is the very definition of irony. But at the same time, he has the serious demeanor that gives him a leadership quality to make the viewer believe that he could be a station manager.

Phil Hartman appears as Bill McNeal. Coming off the wickedly funny seventh season of The Simpsons, which Hartman contributed to with voice acting in nine of the episodes as his iconic Troy McClure or Lionel Hutz, Hartman was given the opportunity to explode the character of Bill in the third season with episodes that give the voice actor some truly meaty roles. Hartman is easily the most believable member of the on-air staff of WNYX (though Khandi Alexander as Catherine Duke certainly has the voice for it as well!) with his vocal talents, but his comedic delivery never stumbles in this season. Instead, he plays a character that is arrogant, egotistical, condescending and deeply sarcastic. Hartman lends his comic brilliance to the role through a pretty simple and effective formula; he keeps a rigid, dignified posture and combines it with a serious tone of voice that makes the most outrageous things his character says seem serious. That just makes them funnier.

The rest of the cast is similarly intense and smart. Stephen Root has the role of his lifetime as Jimmy James, Maura Tierney does more than simply pout or bring angst as Lisa, Vicki Lewis has a spontaneous quality to her that keeps her often underused role as Beth fresh, and Khandi Alexander has a dignity that completely defines her character. But it's the surprising use of actor Joe Rogan that works out brilliantly. Like Tony Danza in Taxi, Rogan is asked to pretty much just lurch around the set being a guy and he makes it work and he enhances the often-zany rest of the cast with his understatement. And even Andy Dick manages to bring something to the table. Before Dick became a half-rate photocopy of Tom Green, he managed to be remarkably ridiculous with a minimal of physical comedy, profanity or just outrageous prankstering. This season of NewsRadio showcases his ability to be funny by simply playing the dimwit. And it's possibly the best role he plays as well.

For those unfamiliar with NewsRadio, it is worth understanding who the actors are cast as to understand why they make so much of their roles. The characters on NewsRadio are funny and in this season, they are put into more interesting situations to be funny in. Here are the principle characters:

Dave Nelson - Station manager, he is responsible for day-to-day operations at WNYX. Dating Lisa, he is prompted to retake his SATs to prove he is not getting dumber, buys a television to keep up on his love of Green Acres, goes in drag to the Halloween party, covers for everyone on Christmas and has a revelation that shocks those who work at the station about where he is truly from,

Lisa Miller - Is given more responsibilities than producing, including reporting. She covers the White House Easter Egg Hunt, has a photoshoot when she is named "Cutest Reporter In New York," takes control of the station when Dave is stuck in the midwest, and she decides to have a baby,

Matthew - The office punching bag becomes obsessed with Dilbert, brings in a twin brother who truly isn't, and is put off by the weirdness of a new intern. James Caan, sent to study Bill for a role, becomes obsessed with the awkward behaviors of Matthew and is captivated. He also goes on vacation to Japan . . . sort of,

Catherine - Is pursued by Joe and imagines having other people of color in her life as opposed to the very white staff she is surrounded by,

Joe - Hits on Catherine, works to fix the air conditioner, subs for Bill when he is incapacitated and continues to make weird devices. In a hilarious turn, this brutish, often inarticulate handyman practices law when Jimmy needs someone sued,

Beth - Is mostly just a supporting role this season with her best roles being in the daydream episode when she is freaked out by Matthew and when she and Matthew discover Bill's love nest,

Bill McNeal - On-air reporter for WNYX, he is possibly the highest paid member of the staff, which leads him to a constantly heady feeling expressed by him lording his position over everyone of the staff. This season, he does a hilarious advertisement for a malt liquor ("Damn!"), takes on the lyrics from rap music, objects to a word Howard Stern uses on air (and in the process repeats the word many, many times), and joins a health club. As well, he deals poorly with learning that he will die in thirty-six years and attempts to explore James Caan's acting methods,

and Jimmy James - The crazy billionaire who owns the station, he decides to run for president, occasionally pursues potential wives, and has a heart attack. He continually cuts the budget and penny pinches, but also tries to keep around his staff by teaching Beth how to use the stock market, using one of Joe's inventions to stay in touch during a fishing trip and taking staff members to events outside work.

The episodes seem - in a description like this - to be pretty standard sitcom fare, but the truth is that the magic is in the writing and the performances. It is what separates this truly spectacular workplace comedy from so many that came before and have come since. There are few shows that have such a spectacular cast to use and fewer still that use the cast they have to their full capacity when they have them. NewsRadio does not make those mistakes.

On DVD, the third season is graced with ten commentary tracks over the twenty-five episodes. The commentaries are funny and often insightful and one only finds themselves wishing Phil Hartman had been alive to contribute to them. There is a pretty standard gag reel and a couple of featurettes on the behind-the-scenes thoughts and evolution of the show into the third season. The DVD extras are decent and pretty much the standard for a comedic release.

But the nice thing is the show is so accessible. Anyone who picks this boxed set up and gives it a fair viewing is going to be entertained, laugh a lot and want to pick up more NewsRadio boxed sets. It's that good, it's that original and it holds up well enough to deserve to be in your permanent collection!

For other works with Stephen Root, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Cedar Rapids
Red State
Everything Must Go
No Country For Old Men
True Blood - Season 1
The Soloist
The West Wing - Season 7
Just Friends
Jersey Girl
White Oleander
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Bicentennial Man
Office Space
“Control Freak” - VR.5
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
“Unification, Part II” - Star Trek: The Next Generation
“Unification” - Star Trek: The Next Generation

9.5/10

For other television and movie reviews, please visit my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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One Of The Best Sitcoms Ever To Syndicate Comes To DVD With NewsRadio!

The Good: Great acting, Great characters, FUNNY!, Good writing, Good DVD extras
The Bad: Some predictable plots
The Basics: With twenty-eight episodes, most of which have commentary, this DVD set becomes one of the funniest and clever sitcoms anyone could add to their collection!


Any show that references space prostitutes is all right by me. Of course, to my knowledge, there is only one series that dares to reference Vixens From The Vacuum and that is NewsRadio, in its hilarious episode "No, This Is Not Based Entirely On Julie's Life" on DVD in the first NewsRadio boxed set. NewsRadio - The Complete First And Second Season is an example of doing right what the awkward The Practice - Vol. 1 (reviewed here!) did wrong. This boxed set includes all seven first season episodes and the twenty-one episodes that made up the second season. This also marks the only sitcom I caught in syndication that was so truly spectacular that I had to buy the DVD sets. If you've never seen or heard of NewsRadio, this DVD set should soon be in your possession and one that you'll find gets pretty heavy rotation.

Set in New York City's WNYX radio station featuring an all news format, this workplace sitcom followed the exploits of the straightlaced office manager, Dave, as he worked to keep the station up and running while dealing with the eccentric characters who inhabit the office. It is surprisingly original, hilarious and holds up remarkably well over many multiple viewings.

Dave arrives at WNYX to take over as station manager. There he meets Lisa, the angry producer who believes she should have gotten the station manager's job. Things become complicated for Dave and Lisa when they start dating unbeknownst to anyone else in the office or the station owner, billionaire Jimmy James. While concealing their relationship, Dave is forced to deal with problems like an on-air mispronunciation of Joey Buttafuco's name, a staff uprising over new desks, the station's budget problems, and Mr. James using the staff to test new product's he is investing in. As well, the show centers on Dave breaking up with his old girlfriend (for good), the death of the office rat, and Jimmy's crazy quest to get married.

It's all good. Seriously. Front to back, this DVD set is a winner. In fact, when someone else compared it to Arrested Development (reviewed here!), I finally realized why I like Arrested Development so much! They are both fiercely original and have great writing. Honestly, the only thing I could come up with that brings down this boxed set from perfection is that some of the episodes are a bit predictable on the plot front. Not many, but a few. It's enough - in my stringent rating system - to keep the set from perfection. But it certainly should not keep you from picking the set up.

The show is edgier than some and while it starts off good, by the second season episodes, it is truly hitting its stride. The show is not afraid to push the limits of tasteful diction or subject matter, with workers exchanging nude photographs, competing for one another's affections and the entire staff railing ruthlessly on Dave when they think he's not listening. It's funny, it's sometime at the line of good taste, but it is always well-delivered.

NewsRadio starts out strong with the feeling of a show that has been on the air and while the first season employs a number of extras that are whittled out for the second season, there is only one major change in this boxed set and that is in the character of Matthew. Matthew starts out as a geek, but a suitably intelligent and with-it geek whose awkwardness is not a function of anything other than being awkward. At the outset of the second season (so after the first seven episodes) he is transformed into the village idiot, the comic relief because his clumsy character also happens to be painfully stupid. He remains the niche character of the dumb punching bag until the series ends. Outside that, most of the characters are fundamentally who they begin as.

That is not to say they do not evolve because one of the hallmarks of NewsRadio is that it is a rare semi-serialized show. As a result, relationships grow and change, there are consequences for some actions and some threads recur. In this boxed set, for example, Jimmy begins his search for a wife, Dave and Lisa work to keep their relationship secret at the office, and the workplace stress builds up with the staff prompting a staff retreat and a staff psychiatrist.

And like all great shows, NewsRadio has remarkably memorable characters. Here is who they are in the first season:

Dave Nelson - Fresh in from the midwest, Dave takes over as station manager and discovers his adversary for the job, Lisa, is completely hot. He develops a relationship with her that he has to keep secret and works to manage the office of eccentric characters that occupy WNYX. At the mercy of station owner Jimmy James, Dave is charged with keeping Bill working and not harassing Catherine, and keeping both Beth and Matthew focused on their jobs,

Bill McNeal - On-air talent. He's boisterous, loud, and opinionated. His ego often causes conflict with the coworkers and with Dave. He is taken to trying ridiculous things like taking up a cane, just for the look,

Lisa Miller - Producer. She had been vying for Dave's job when Jimmy brought in Dave, so she is resentful of him, despite their romantic relationship outside work,

Matthew Brock - A lesser producer. He's the incompetent buffoon around WNYX who is often getting into trouble, falling down or being teased. After the first few episodes, he is the butt of almost every terrible joke or prank,

Catherine Duke - On-air talent. Frequently pestered by Bill - or in competition with him for the best stories - she is a dignified, though she does sink to getting into a practical joke war with Bill,

Beth - The staff secretary. She is bubbly and generally inefficient, though she comes with a fiery wit. She tries get-rich-quick schemes that never seem to pan out for her,

Joe Gareli - The station's handyman. He's a kind of brutish guy who is handy with equipment and blunt with people. He facilitates things like Beth's schemes and the practical jokes between Bill and Catherine,

and Jimmy James - Crazy billionaire who owns the station. He controls the staff through a weird mix of fear and random bonuses. He gives Dave difficult assignments at odd times and changes the parameters of his expectations almost constantly. As well, he has a habit of beginning sentences or asking questions without quite knowing where he is going with them.

Part of what makes NewsRadio - The Complete First and Second Seasons so truly great is that the casting is brilliant. NewsRadio features some truly talented individuals. They include Maura Tierney as Lisa, Vicki Lewis as Beth, Khandi Alexander as Catherine, and Joe Rogan (who actually works out perfectly) as Joe. Andy Dick appears as Matthew and it seems like many of his roles later on are derivative of his role here, like his part in Employee Of The Month (reviewed here!). Stephen Root plays Jimmy James and it is quite possibly his most memorable single role to date.

Phil Hartman instantly led NewsRadio some credibility and it's easy to see why. Hartman has a voice that makes him ideal for radio, so the idea of him playing a character who works in radio is perfect casting. But Hartman also has a versatility that makes it possible for him to embody a character who can flawlessly move between arrogant, erudite, and completely smarmy. Hartman plays with that versatility in almost every single episode and Bill McNeal is in many ways his live-action legacy.

But the show is carried on the back of Dave Foley as Dave. Foley, well-known to comedy fans from The Kids In The Hall (season one reviewed here!), plays a much more straightlaced character as Dave and it works because his deadpan and normalcy allow everyone else in the cast to be zany or petty. Foley works as the ultimate straightman against a completely eccentric cast that meshes from almost the very first episode.

The DVD set is one of the truly great comedy DVD sets. Would that Sports Night (reviewed here!) had the extras that this set comes with! Twenty episodes have commentaries, there is a featurette. Season two has a pretty hilarious blooper reel and there are the usual filmographies included. It's an all around nice set of extras and the commentary tracks make for a wonderful addition to the DVD set providing hours more of entertainment. It honestly makes it worth it for those of us, like me, who might have been complacent about simply enjoying the series in syndication.

After all, I know I've been happier having NewsRadio on demand! I suspect anyone who likes a good laugh with humor that's above the curve, will as well.

For other works with Maura Tierney, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Baby Mama
Forces Of Nature
Primary Colors

8/10

For other television reviews, be sure to check out my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the television reviews I have written!

© 2012, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Long Awaited, In One Set, NewsRadio - The Complete Series Is Worth It!

The Good: Funny, Interesting characters, Well-performed
The Bad: Odd packaging that uses more space than needed, No booklet
The Basics: NewsRadio - The Complete Series is an average DVD set of a thoroughly funny and enduring situation comedy!


There are few television comedies that I have been looking to get on DVD that have led me to hold out for a "Complete Series" DVD pack, but NewsRadio was one of them. Content to borrow DVDs and watch the show in syndication until a "Complete Series" set was released, I felt a noticeable lack in my collection from the absence of NewsRadio. With the release of NewsRadio - The Complete Series on DVD, that hole has now been filled and I am quite glad to have this to watch whenever I want now.

In this complete series multipack, there are no additional bonus features or discs that were not released as any of the prior four DVD boxed sets. Moreover, the packaging on this set is funky; to save plastic and (presumably) space, the discs from the five seasons of NewsRadio are stacked in a single tray. All twelve discs are stacked in a tray that is almost twice as deep as it needs to be to accommodate the discs, which makes one wonder why the producers did not simply simplify the packaging even more. Even so, there is great value in the NewsRadio - The Complete Series boxed set, as all ninety-seven episodes of the series are available for less than the price of any two of the season boxed sets!

This set is a simple collection of the originally pressed discs for:
NewsRadio - Seasons 1 & 2
NewsRadio - Season 3
NewsRadio - Season 4
NewsRadio - Season 5

Set in New York City's WNYX radio station featuring an all news format, this workplace sitcom followed the exploits of the straightlaced office manager, Dave, as he worked to keep the station up and running while dealing with the eccentric characters who inhabit the office. It is surprisingly original, hilarious and holds up remarkably well over many multiple viewings.

Dave arrives at WNYX to take over as station manager. There he meets Lisa, the angry producer who believes she should have gotten the station manager's job. Things become complicated for Dave and Lisa when they start dating unbeknownst to anyone else in the office or the station owner, billionaire Jimmy James. While concealing their relationship, Dave is forced to deal with problems like an on-air mispronunciation of Joey Buttafuco's name, a staff uprising over new desks, the station's budget problems, and Mr. James using the staff to test new product's he is investing in. As well, the show centers on Dave breaking up with his old girlfriend (for good), the death of the office rat, and Jimmy's crazy quest to get married.

In the third season, Dave Nelson continues to manage New York City news station WNYX while being micromanaged by station owner, crazed billionaire Jimmy James. While dating producer, Lisa, Dave is constantly stressed by managing the on-air talent, figuring out what Matthew is doing and making sure Joe keeps the station up and running. He reluctantly rallies the staff to have fun at the staff Halloween party, attempts to keep a bad magazine article from getting the staff down, leads the station to victory at an award's show, deals with a complaint box and tries to save Matthew from destitution from medical bills when he is injured. As well, the staff hallucinates when the air conditioning breaks down, the women have a photoshoot, and experience an alternate future.

In the fourth season, Dave finds himself hampered by budget problems which immediately lead to Matthew being fired and an efficiency expert being brought in to evaluate the station and determine what can be cut. When the expert's analysis leads to a change in staff positions, WNYX is turned upside down!

In the final season, Bill dies (a necessary change given the murder of actor Phil Hartman) and Dave hires Max Louis as the new on-air talent to keep station WNYX afloat. Louis instantly antagonizes Matthew, flirts with Beth, competes with Lisa and challenges Jimmy for who might be stranger around the office. With the appearance of Max, Lisa finds her hands tied at work and surprised when a criminal mastermind, Johnny Johnson expresses interest in her following Jimmy's arrest as a suspected hijacker. With Jimmy on the run, Dave gets bad vibes from Johnny and sets to exonerating his boss with the help of the others at the office.

What makes the series so funny is the writing. The dialogue is hilarious and delivered at a wonderfully fast pace by performers who have a genuine knack for comedy. So, for example, in the third episode, "Smoking," Dave is trying to help Bill quit smoking. He does this by supplying Bill with the nicotine patch and the following ensues between Lisa and Dave:
"Don't you need a prescription for those?"
"Yeah, I went to my doctor this morning and had him prescribe them for me."
"But you don't smoke."
"Yeah, but I told him that I was thinking about starting. You know, I don't think he's a very good doctor." - Lisa and Dave, respectively, "Smoking."

It translates well even reading the lines, but there is no substitute for seeing the talented comics delivering their banter. The show is edgier than some and while it starts off good, by the second season episodes, it is truly hitting its stride. The show is not afraid to push the limits of tasteful diction or subject matter, with workers exchanging nude photographs, competing for one another's affections and the entire staff railing ruthlessly on Dave when they think he's not listening. It's funny, it's sometime at the line of good taste, but it is always well-delivered.

NewsRadio starts out strong with the feeling of a show that has been on the air and while the first season employs a number of extras that are whittled out for the second season, there is only one major change in this boxed set and that is in the character of Matthew. Matthew starts out as a geek, but a suitably intelligent and with-it geek whose awkwardness is not a function of anything other than being awkward. At the outset of the second season (so after the first seven episodes) he is transformed into the village idiot, the comic relief because his clumsy character also happens to be painfully stupid. He remains the niche character of the dumb punching bag until the series ends. Outside that, most of the characters are fundamentally who they begin as.

That is not to say they do not evolve because one of the hallmarks of NewsRadio is that it is a rare semi-serialized show. As a result, relationships grow and change, there are consequences for some actions and some threads recur. In this boxed set, for example, Jimmy begins his search for a wife, Dave and Lisa work to keep their relationship secret at the office, and the workplace stress builds up with the staff prompting a staff retreat and a staff psychiatrist.

And like all great shows, NewsRadio has remarkably memorable characters. Here is how they are initially characterized:

Dave Nelson - Fresh in from the midwest, Dave takes over as station manager and discovers his adversary for the job, Lisa, is completely hot. He develops a relationship with her that he has to keep secret and works to manage the office of eccentric characters that occupy WNYX. At the mercy of station owner Jimmy James, Dave is charged with keeping Bill working and not harassing Catherine, and keeping both Beth and Matthew focused on their jobs,

Bill McNeal - On-air talent. He's boisterous, loud, and opinionated. His ego often causes conflict with the coworkers and with Dave. He is taken to trying ridiculous things like taking up a cane, just for the look,

Lisa Miller - Producer. She had been vying for Dave's job when Jimmy brought in Dave, so she is resentful of him, despite their romantic relationship outside work,

Matthew Brock - A lesser producer. He's the incompetent buffoon around WNYX who is often getting into trouble, falling down or being teased. After the first few episodes, he is the butt of almost every terrible joke or prank,

Catherine Duke - On-air talent. Frequently pestered by Bill - or in competition with him for the best stories - she is a dignified, though she does sink to getting into a practical joke war with Bill,

Beth - The staff secretary. She is bubbly and generally inefficient, though she comes with a fiery wit. She tries get-rich-quick schemes that never seem to pan out for her,

Joe Gareli - The station's handyman. He's a kind of brutish guy who is handy with equipment and blunt with people. He facilitates things like Beth's schemes and the practical jokes between Bill and Catherine,

Max Louis - The new radio anchor for the final season, he has been fired by over thirty jobs in the past twenty years, which makes him neurotic about being fired. When Dave does not fire him, he settles in to annoying Matthew, flirting with Beth and starting his own vendetta against Jimmy's security consultant,

and Jimmy James - Crazy billionaire who owns the station. He controls the staff through a weird mix of fear and random bonuses. He gives Dave difficult assignments at odd times and changes the parameters of his expectations almost constantly. As well, he has a habit of beginning sentences or asking questions without quite knowing where he is going with them.

Part of what makes NewsRadio - The Complete Series so truly great is that the casting is brilliant. NewsRadio features some truly talented individuals. They include Maura Tierney as Lisa, Vicki Lewis as Beth, Khandi Alexander as Catherine, and Joe Rogan (who actually works out perfectly) as Joe. Andy Dick appears as Matthew and it seems like many of his roles later on are derivative of his role her. Stephen Root plays Jimmy James and it is quite possibly his most memorable single role to date.

Phil Hartman instantly led NewsRadio some credibility and it's easy to see why. Hartman has a voice that makes him ideal for radio, so the idea of him playing a character who works in radio is perfect casting. But Hartman also has a versatility that makes it possible for him to embody a character who can flawlessly move between arrogant, erudite, and completely smarmy. Hartman plays with that versatility in almost every single episode and Bill McNeal is in many ways his live-action legacy.

But the show is carried on the back of Dave Foley as Dave. Foley, well-known to comedy fans from The Kids In The Hall (season one reviewed here!), plays a much more straightlaced character as Dave and it works because his deadpan and normalcy allow everyone else in the cast to be zany or petty. Foley works as the ultimate straightman against a completely eccentric cast that meshes from almost the very first episode.

The DVD extras on the various seasons of NewsRadio are fairly lean, though they seem to be pretty much the industry standard for comedies. There are a few featurettes on the characters and seasons and one or two commentary tracks, but not much else. In the "Complete Series" package, it would have been nice to have more than just a listing of episode titles (a booklet with little plot summaries would have been ideal!). Sadly, that is not present.

Still, it is not hard to get into this series and it is a series that one may get through rather quickly, yet want to have around for years to come. A worthy, if vastly underrated series that is now available in one bundle for fans to enjoy for posterity!

For other shows that air(ed) on NBC, please check out my reviews of:
30 Rock – Season 1
The West Wing
Heroes
Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip
Friends
Frasier
Homicide: Life On The Streets
V - The Television Series
Star Trek

8/10

For other movie and television reviews, please visit my Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Another Season Of Great Humor: The Kids In The Hall Season Two!

The Good: Funny, Well-acted, Interesting characters, Decent DVD bonuses
The Bad: Some loss of punch, Price
The Basics: With a quick wit and amazingly funny writing, the second season of The Kids In The Hall delivers humor that is sustained after years on the shelf.


Sophomore seasons of most shows are the make-or-break season for a series. It's easy to come out of the gate strong and blow people away with a show that is different, intriguing and ground breaking. This is almost doubly true of sketch comedy shows. Indeed, sketch comedy shows seem to have a higher rate of degradation, especially as the seasons progress. The Kids In The Hall may be the only successful sketch comedy show to endure its entire run with all of the original participants (Monty Python fans, before you start crawling up my butt, recall that John Cleese left in the last season!). Yet, here in the second season of The Kids In The Hall, the show is already beginning to illustrate the strain of maintaining the critically high standards that make for great sketch comedy.

The second season of The Kids In The Hall is twenty-episodes of twenty-two minute compilations of various offbeat comedy skits. In this season, the five-man group recalls such memorable first season characters as the Headcrusher and Cabbage Head, and creates wonderful new characters and recurring sketches like Simon and Hecubus and "It's a Fact!" This season marks the introduction of the fan-favorite (though not mine) character of the Chicken Lady. Like most sketch comedy, it is hard to describe the show as a season, when it truly is a collection of skits. Here, however, are some of the prime selling points of season two:

1. "The Doctor" - Sadly, the first episode of the second season has arguably the best sketch with "The Doctor" a short dissertation by a blood-soaked medical professional admitting just how lousy he is as a doctor. The wide-eyed enthusiasm with which Dave Foley speaks is disturbing and hilarious. Quite possibly one of the funniest monologues of all time (right up there with "Politicians: An Apology" from Monty Python's Flying Circus).

2. "Guess Your Weight" - In this sketch a carnival entertainer is set with the task of guessing a person's weight and their ability to read all other aspects of the person's life is quite humorous. As he jostles his victim, he describes the man's poor love life, horrible childhood, etc. and the glee with which he does so is quite amusing.

3. "Scott's Not Gay" - Wherein resident homosexual cast member Scott Thompson comes out of the closet and into heterosexuality in a biting satire of what is expected of celebrities who are in and out of the closet.

4. "I Can't Play Piano" - Another Dave Foley bit of genius where a lounge singer gouges our ears with his revelation (again, enthusiastic, it's always enthusiastically with Dave Foley) that he has no musical abilities whatsoever. Very funny.

and 5. "Simon and Hecubus" - An hilarious look at worshiping satan as a Master and Servant try to entertain a crowd. This is the first of this pair's recurring appearances and it's originality illustrates well how the The Kids In The Hall have not lost much going into their second season.

Now, I know this might be somewhat confusing, me saying one moment how difficult the second season of a show can be and how the The Kids In The Hall are starting to show their signs of fading, but then say they aren't fading much. Allow me to clarify. Second seasons are difficult, especially in sketch comedy, because you have to prove the first season was not just a fluke. There are signs that the "Kids" are fading here in the second season; the Headcrusher bits which were wearing thin by the end of the first season are tired in the second and the Cabbage Head bits are just awful in the second season as well. Gone, too, are one of the funniest little bits, "Thirty Helens Agree."

But these little cracks are patched (in good order) by a slew of new, equally interesting characters, like Simon and Hecubus, Bruce McCulloch's feminist, and the "Touch Paul Bellini" contest. One or two of the new additions, like the Chicken Lady, appear in the second season for the first time and already feel like it's an old trick. But the "It's a Fact" segments and "Cops" sketches fit in perfectly. In short, the weakness of the second season is when the Kids In the Hall try to provide recognizable, already liked characters, as opposed to forging ahead with newer, more extravagant characters.

The strength of The Kids In The Hall is in the troupe's writing and acting ability. Dave Foley is hilarious in his roles that he often infuses with such energy and vigor as to make them instantly likable. Kevin McDonald has a way of altering his voice throughout his sketches so as to appear as the hyperbole of the everyman in the funniest possible ways. Mark McKinney is a master of deadpan humor and he plays off Scott Thompson's expressive genius perfectly.

The second season is the one where Bruce McCulloch comes into his own. In this season Bruce livens up with more vibrant, memorable characters like his militant feminist and his subtle-childlike performance of the recurring annoying child. McCulloch strikes an excellent balance in this season between wonderful physical comedy and his presentation of hilarious lines.

The Kids In The Hall remains one of the strongest sketch comedy ensembles ever assembled and in the second season it is easy to see why. Pushing the envelope forward with racy humor and an irreverence toward every subject, even after over a decade since airing, these episodes are more outrageous than most of the things on Saturday Night Live or Mad TV. A must for anyone who loves comedy, especially sketch comedy.

For other stand-up and irreverent comedy, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Strangers With Candy
Totally Committed - Jeff Foxworthy
Dress To Kill - Eddie Izzard

8/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2012, 2005 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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A Rival With Monty Python For Greatest Sketch Comedy Of The Century: The Kids In The Hall Season One!

The Good: Funny! Great comedic talent, Funny sketch comedy, Interesting bonuses
The Bad: As with all sketch comedy, some sketches flop.
The Basics: A surprisingly tight, well-written, well-conceived collection of sketch comedy from five men who have a knack for observing the weirdest bits of human nature comes to DVD with The Kids In The Hall Season One.


Sketch comedy, that is to say humor that uses short skits among a troupe of comics, is difficult to sustain. Saturday Night Live illustrates how difficult it can be every few years when the cast hits a low point and the talents who are on are consistently shooting blanks. From Lorne Michael, the man who brought the world Saturday Night Live comes a troupe that rivals Monty Python in raw talent and comic audacity. The Kids In the Hall first season contains some of the best, most edgy works of the HBO comedy show, with twenty complete episodes, the special and the Best of Season 1 all in one nice boxed set.

The Kids In the Hall is made up of five men who play out all sorts of ridiculous ideas for our amusement. Examples of sketches include the man with the cabbage for a head, a homosexual night club performer comparing genitals and ethnicities and drawing conclusions on both, two dull men who believe nobody likes them (so they decide to hang themselves outside the house of the person who declines their loan request), a man who looks through his fingers at distant people and pretends to crush their heads with his thumb and forefinger, and a man who does a monologue about how he is comfortable with menstruation.

Okay, it's pretty ridiculous to try to describe comic sketches. It's almost impossible to try to sell someone on this type of humor. Why? It is something that needs to be experienced, for one. The Kids In The Hall play off non-sequitors; they put two unlike things together and play with it for a few minutes, then they move onto an entirely different sequence where they try something else. More often than not, this group succeeds.

The reason that this DVD set is worth your money, outside being downright hilarious, is that it holds up remarkably well over time. Like Monty Python, the Kids In the Hall avoid topical humor of the day. So, instead of political jokes and humor that relies on knowing current celebrities of when the show was made, The Kids In the Hall make broader statements and poke fun at longer ranging political and social ideas. In short, because the Kids In the Hall are not making fun of current events, these sketches do not seem dated. They are still quite funny today.

The Kids In the Hall is comprised of five geniuses, most of whom would be familiar to those who enjoy movies and television today. Bruce McCulloch has an amazing ability to play young people, Kevin McDonald is a genius with body language and ridiculous voices and has guest starred on That 70’s Show, and Mark McKinney went from this sketch comedy group to Saturday Night Live.

Scott Thompson, the openly gay member of the troupe, is easily the most edgy. Thompson's performances in this set is what largely makes it appropriate only for adults. He is amazing at delivering absurd, acerbic and often offensive lines while maintaining a very calm facade. He went on to play in The Larry Sanders Show.

But perhaps the most successful since the end of The Kids In The Hall is David Foley, who was the star of NBC's Newsradio and Disney's A Bug's Life. Foley is also the most expressive and diverse member of the The Kids In The Hall, expanding many of his roles with a great variety of range and depth. He has the impressive ability to appear cheerful while discussing horrible things and absolutely depressed within seconds. He is a true comic genius and it is easy to see why he has had such a career after this show.

That is not to say that any of these people are not geniuses, they all are experts at comedy and this boxed set goes a long way to illustrating why they are going to be considered timeless and great beyond the limited audience that has already seen them on television. However, as I said previously, it's difficult to do a review on a DVD set, no matter how great, on a series of sketch comedy routines.

Perhaps the best function of this review would be to inform people that the Kids In the Hall are out on DVD, as it seems they are not well-advertised outside the Kids In the Hall website and many major retailers are not yet stocking this title. HEY, The KIDS IN THE HALL ARE OUT ON DVD!!!!!! GO BUY IT!

Now.

For other comedy series’, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Da Ali G Show
Extras
Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip

9/10

For other television reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the television episodes and boxed sets I have reviewed!

© 2012, 2004 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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