Out Of The Box By Anita Sarko - Review

Interview, Sept, 2001

THE BERNIE MAC SHOW (FOX)

Mac, the popular stand-up comedian (The Original Kings of Comedy), becomes the anti-Cosby in this wonder of a show. He plays a gruff, set-in-his-ways comic named Bernie Mac (typecasting?), who, with his wife, Wanda (Kellita Smith), takes in his sister's three kids when she goes into rehab. Mac addresses the audience throughout the show ("Yeah, my sister's on drugs," he says. "That's OK, some of your family members are messed up, too.") and reveals a likeable character who tries to be a know-it-all but never quite succeeds. Despite the potential for melodrama, you'll find plenty of laughs and characters who are neither cliched nor annoying. Catch it.

BOB PATTERSON (ABC)

Jason Alexander plays a smarmy Tony Robbins self-help type in this sitcom and falls victim to the Seinfeld offshoot curse, which cannot auger well for Julia Louis-Dreyfus' upcoming small-screen outing. The humor is Burlesque-level and broad (Patterson to buxom water-delivery bimbo: "You're certainly in great shape. I assume it's from carrying around those big jugs all day."), which sends the canned laughers into inexplicable fits of guffaws. The P.C. brigade will be pleased to see a wheelchair-bound character, but it's a pity she's only a ditzy secretary. Robert Urich (The Love Boat: The Next Wave) is reportedly being brought in to help this s(t)inking ship, but it may be a case of too little, too late. Miss it.

UNDECLARED (FOX)

Freaks and Geeks executive producer Judd Apatow rules with this twisted comedy about that awkward first year of college. As if being a geeky freshman isn't hard enough, Steven Karp (Jay Baruchel) is further encumbered by the fact that his dad, Hal, likes to hang out at the dorm. Luckily, Hal is skillfully portrayed by legendary singer/songwriter/father of Rufus, Loudon Wainwright. Karp's womanizing roommate, Lloyd (Charlie Hunnam of the English version of Queer as Folk), gets special honors for being one of the major hotties of the new TV season. Extra credit given for the episode featuring Adam Sandler. Catch it.

THIEVES (ABC)

Full House's Uncle Jesse (John Stamos) deserves better. Oh sure, he looks really fine and his co-star, Melissa George (Sugar & Spice), resembles a lesser Patsy Kensit with her really pouty, glossy lips and wardrobe full of cleavage-enhancing outfits, but the sexual tension they try to evoke, as thieves paying their dues to the government, is more fizzle than sizzle. In other words, The Thomas Crown Affair this ain't. On the bright side, this could work as a relationship booster if you just turn down the sound and focus on Stamos and George's obvious physical charms. Miss it.

SMALLVILLE (WB)

Revisiting the idea explored in the 1990 series about Superman as a boy, this version casts young Rudolf Nureyev lookalike Tom Welling as Clark Kent, a typical Midwestern teenager whose only special talent seems to be the ability to run really fast. Trippy special effects give the series a sci-fi feel while gentle humor keeps this action-drama, in which Clark doesn't realize he has special powers, moving along. If you can take your eyes off Welling, you'll also meet Michael Rosenbaum as the teenage misfit Lex Luthor and Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang, who wears a Kryptonite pendant that makes our unsuspecting hero feel queasy every time she comes near. Catch it.