What did I miss - Television Edition

The one comedy show which you can't find is "Fridays." It was ABC's version of "Saturday Night Live," and had a two-year run from 1980 to 1982.

It was generally as good as the better eras of SNL, and edgier. Some great cast members -- Michael Richards, Larry David, Darrow Igus (always surprised he didn't turn up somewhere else), Melanie Chartoff.

One of the most intriguing episodes was Andy Kaufman's guest-hosting gig, in which he was classic Kaufman, walking the line of reality. He intentionally botched a sketch and got into an on-air fistfight with producer Jack Burns. Or did he?

 

They replaced it with Just Shoot Me a while back. Poor choice.

 

I was young but watched Laugh in. All I can say is they had a lot of laugh lines - sock it to me, etc. And every time arte johnson fell over on the tricycle, it was funny. I guess you had to be there at the time.

To me, the most underated variety show was the Smothers Brothers. I only saw repeats, but they were hilarious together, I think it would still hold up. And they had some amazing musical guests.

 

Richards doesn't screw around. He wasn't joking when he put down those cue cards. Richards always had a name for being a perfectionist on Seinfeld. No one wanted to screw up around him because he was so serious about getting everything exactly perfect.

 

Yeah, I can't wait for Monk, Psych, Burn Notice and The Closer... All 1,000 times better than almost anything on the networks...

Someone told me they're doing a second season of Damages... I can't imagine how, but does anyone know if this is true?

 

There was something unique about the Smothers Brothers, especially in that era. Beneath the wholesome, aw-shucks feel was some cutting-edge comedy and satire which you just didn't see on TV at that time. Pat Paulsen's "campaign" for president was almost considered scandalous then.

 

I always liked Tom and Tom, the Brothers Brothers.

 

Mizzougrad -- If your local cable co. has American Life TV in its packages, both Hill St. And St. Elsewhere run on Sunday nights.

 

I think the shows of the 70s were just better written. The characters were well drawn, the writers and networks had the luxury of the broadcast networks being the only game in town. And there were only three networks then. Imagine if you squeezed all of the creative talent from HBO, Comedy Central, Showtime, FX, USA, TNT and AMC and FOX into ABC, CBS and NBC. Sure, the cussing and nudity on cable gives them more freedom, but I think the writers would be able to adapt.