4x Herman

this show was so freakin' cool. it was one of the many gems that fox let slip into the cracks (family guy, critic, are others). this truly was a breath of fresh air. it makes you think. about when tv was good. or maybe just this show was good. whatever the case, it isn't on anymore, and i think 's a shame.

Nice sit-com, helped through it's first year following married with children, then killed off by Fox putting it into the 9:30 slot facing NBC's Thurdsay lineup containing Seinfeld, Frasier and then ending with Homicide. Nothing would have made it in that time slot, so we have to assume it was sacrificed to make way for one of Fox's brass to introduce one of his other pet projects.

For unexplained reason, this was being aired at nearly 3 AM on our national television. Maybe they had no empty time for a sitcom like it. Or maybe that was the perfect time for a sitcom about mind! Anyway, that gave me the chance to follow it peacefully in the depth of the night like a special treat, particularly when it was airing daily.

This is simply about Herman and his mind. His mind's residents are maybe the rarest group of characters in sitcom history; Angel (Sensitivity), Animal (Lust), Wimp (Anxiety), Genius (Intellect). You have to love a funny facing to your own thinking like this. I'm sure, it is the closest of what (Sigmund Freud) might have wanted from a sitcom!

I was waiting for any scene that got (Yeardley Smith) in it. As (Louise) the sidekick, she was totally adorable; her magical voice, miniature features, perfect attitude, and tender charisma, all agglutinated me to my seat every single episode to enjoy her presence and performance. The best thing was that she smartly knew how to make you laugh at her and sympathy with her in the same time. The mind's inhabitants were beautifully selected, constantly comic and in harmony. On the contrary, (William Ragsdal), as the title character, was flat, being the less talented amongst all the good cast.

While the main idea was genius, was it ready to continue?! I mean the appearance of all our minds' rulers in conflict and discussion all the way was great imagination and cute fun apart, but with not many renewals, the show adhered to the same formula of having something happens to Herman, then some jokes about it from the crazy bunch in his head. That made the 4 "head" characters imprisoned in the same place, and case, just about every time!

Although cancellation is not always well news, but I think that helped the show to be a fine memory without any malformation or desperate desire to be on air by any cost. I read that if the show got a fourth season, there was going to be a second set of head characters introduced! Thank God that that didn't happen. It's like adding a new "girl" car in the last season of (Knight Rider) beside the "male" car (K. I. T. T) because of some weariness hit it badly. Well, I believe every show has hypothetical age before its inevitable expiration date. And 3 seasons were enough age for (Herman's Head) before any possible dullness!

This was a wonderful original sitcom. The writers pulled it off as a light comedy with exceptional perspective. It was amazing that it managed to survive for 71 episodes (at first, it looked like the ones that last for only 13!). And it was good also to stop at that number; otherwise, we would have hated Herman, his Head, and their writers!

Herman Brooks (William Ragsdale) is a lowly fact checker at a publishing house. He works under the encyclopedic Mr. Paul Bracken (Jason Bernard) along with selfish bitch Heddy Newman (Jane Sibbett) and awkward virgin Louise Fitzer (Yeardley Smith). His best friend is sleazy writer Jay Nichols (Hank Azaria). The show goes inside Herman's head with conflicting psyche; Sensitivity (Molly Hagan), Lust (Ken Hudson Campbell), Anxiety (Rick Lawless), and Intellect (Peter Mackenzie).

The premise of inside Herman's head has some good fun. On the other hand, the basic sitcom premise lacks needed romantic possibilities for Herman. I definitely don't want Herman with Louise. Heddy is such a bitch that any relationship is doomed from the start. It's not love-hate. It's just hate-hate. The show tries to put them together a couple times but in general, the coupling is horrible. The odd thing is that there is a perfect partner in the pilot. Connie is sleazy Jay's girlfriend when she falls for Herman. I really like the pilot and the show misses that character. Jay is such an annoying jerk that it actually detracts from my love of Herman. I don't see the friendship in them. The unique premise has some fun but ultimately, the chemistry in the sitcom isn't that good. Jennifer Aniston has a minor role as Herman's little sister.

I was too young when I watched this show to really give a true critical assessment of it, but it definitely entertained me. Most of the jokes went over my little head, but the ones I did get were quite funny to me. I remember being especially disgusted by the character that represented Herman's lust and a bit annoyed by the feminine character in his brain. It was a clever idea, and I wish that it had a longer run.