The Michael Richards Show

The premise revolves around private detective Vic Nardozza. Every week he gets a case assigned and he tries his best to solve them, always with wacky consequences. We also get to see the personal lives of his boss and co-workers.

This show really takes its sweet time to find its footing. The first couple episodes are hard to watch in every single way. The writing and humor feels awkward, the characters don't gel together and Michael Richards, as talented as he is, can still barely squeeze a laugh out of me. He gets a few nice slapstick moments, but that's it. The theme song is nice at least.

The cases are also dealt with in a very labored way, as if the writer can't think of how to make them interesting.

About halfway through, it starts to get a little better. Some of the jokes are actually legitimately funny, the characters start to click more and even the acting in some areas improves.

I inititally found Tim Meadows the most annoying part of the cast, but he gets to prove his worth after a while. William Devane gets the bad luck of portraying one of the most boring characters, but in the final episode he finally has a chance to prove he has comedic chops.

It's fun to see guest stars like Gregory Itzin, Ed Begley Jr. and Jeff Garlin(!) make appearances as well.

There are even some successful attempts at satire, which was definitely unexpected.

However, even when the series gets better there are still parts where I just feel bored, and due to ending so quickly it never reaches its full potential. Who knows, maybe in season 2 this could have been one of the better post-Seinfeld projects Richards acted in.

But because it got cancelled after only 8 episodes this simply remains a curiosity at best.

I expected to see a lot more from the series premiere of the Michael Richards show. All of the actors, who are all quite seasoned, did a very shabby job. Especially Mr.Devane. Tim Meadows also didn't give us much in the way of a character, just a lot of meaningless lines. And Mr.Richards himself- I was quite disappointed, he wasn't funny, he tried to be and failed, which is the worst type! To me the writing is one punchline after the other, but the most irritating part of the whole show was the very loud and very untimely laugh tracks. I will continue to watch, praying that it gets better.

A titan of physical comedy and nonsense syllables, Richards does provide what one expects from a comedy: laughs. I was tickled at least a few times (yes, laugh-out-loud funny, not just a smile).

He manages to distance himself almost completely from Kramer which is no mean trick considering he's meant to deliver a similar level of yucks. So, I laughed.

But I also cried. Much of the show just sits there. William Devane enters and, despite his charm, seems like he's accidentally stumbled onto the wrong stage and then just tries to fit in. The Tim Meadows character is even more displaced. Bill Cobbs and Amy Farrington have potential. Mind, this isn't because two actors can act and two can't. They all CAN, but only the last two are remotely integral characters to the show (at least as the premier was written). I'll certainly give it another chance and hope Devane and Meadow's get better lines and plotting.

My wife and I loved this show. I thought it was absolutely hysterical, and Tim Meadows shined here as well (compared to his mundane SNL stint). I'm saddened to hear that the show was cancelled. It was a terrific sitcom, very funny and very smart.

Michael Richards is a hugely talented comic actor, who stole almost every scene as Cosmo Kramer on "Seinfeld." He is one of the best physical comics out there, and one day I hope he will hit it big in either TV or the movies (hopefully he'll make more comedies like "UHF" and "Unstrung Heroes" and not ones like the hugely disappointing "Trial and Error"). But this show is as lame as can be! And I guess the creators thought it would add flair to assemble one of the biggest ensemble casts in sitcom history. That way Tim Meadows, William Devane and Bill Cobbs can have equal time at wasting their talents. As Robert DeNiro said in "A Bronx Tale," "There's nothing worse than wasted talent." "The Michael Richards Show" is a prime example.

My score: 2 (out of 10)