The Bernie Mac Show

A standup comic suddenly finds himself with three children to raise, the result of a drug-addled sister. One is a young girl trying to grow up, the second is an Urkel-type boy who loves to cause trouble and the third is a very young female who likes to eat. A lot. The comic struggles to be a father, and is aided (and sometimes not helped) by his adoring wife. Bernie Mac as the comic periodically breaks the fourth wall by sitting, facing the camera and talking directly to it, which means he is talking to us. No laugh track, no live audience, thank God. The show is decidedly hit and miss, and your feelings about it will depend on how you feel about the late and great Mr. Mac and his particular brand of humor. Guest stars abound.

This is the show to watch on Wednesday nights on FOX. I'm very impressed that the show has been renewed for three more seasons,and that's good. Let's hope they don't cancel it,or destroy it for that manner. Bernie Mac(usually his comedian antics are strictly adult oriented) is just absolutely marvelous as the father figure who takes three kids from a rough Chicago neighborhood and raises them in the plush estates of Beverly Hills who along with his wife Wanda. However,Mac has toned down a bit for this show,but in all aspects it is extremely funny and the punchliners come from Mac himself. He maybe a little too strict with them,but you'll never know what Bernie Mac is thinking or going to do next. The part about where he talks to the audience with cigar in hand is a grand style of situation comedy that has not been used in a long time and it is worth the cost to see this show! In all you gotta love the three kids here.................sassy and sometimes attitude correct Vanessa,nerdy and unpredictable Jordan,and the cute and adorable Deirdra(or Dee Dee/baby girl for short). The wife is seen in some of the episodes,but its Bernie himself that holds it together.........great show!

Bernie Mac don't understand these kids, 'Merica. This show is funny as H-E-double hockeysticks. The odd part is, Mac technically isn't acting here; this is his life. He just acts like himself. And they pay him to do this! I wish I could have had someone like that in my family. I've never met somebody who's that funny naturally.

He made an entire show about how he doesn't understand anything. That kicks so much ass.

This was a great series and the particular episode Easy Rider was very good as well. As in most episodes Bernie's ego gets in his way as he rides his motorcycle trying to get approval of other bikers all the while missing commitments to his kids. Funny enough as he wrecks and what follows.

The best part of this episode and the entire series was the use of Earth Wind and Fire's song Fantasy when Bernie thought he was dead. As I watch it now its kinda sad as Bernie passed on way too early and as in life and the show things changed. Here he finds all his (adopted) kids have turned for the worse. A good portion of the song is played as he walks through the house. Its cool. We miss Bernie.

Somehow, I've found myself watching reruns of "The Bernie Mac Show" quite often recently, usually late at night and on some podunk network. This is a remarkable occurrence because I sort of loathe television, particularly sitcoms, and most especially family sitcoms.

But I don't loathe Bernie Mac! It's actually a pretty clever show. It has a number of signature gimmicks that might annoy some viewers, but I like them; Bernie talks to the camera a lot, for example, breaking the so-called "fourth wall." There are also plenty of amusing pop-up captions that comment on the action.

The plot is relatively straightforward stuff - Bernie is suddenly entrusted with the care of his two nieces and his wheezy little nephew, and he must somehow cope with this unexpected foray into the territory of "fatherhood." Though this may sound really standard, the scripts, from what I've seen, actually contain some pretty insightful and clever observations about parenting.

Maybe the best part is that the show is filmed like a movie, complete with moody lighting and interesting camera angles. Visually speaking, it just blows away all the cheap-looking sitcoms that are filmed on over-lit, tacky three-walled sets. I wonder when other sitcoms will finally get around to switching over to this more "cinematic" look?

I'll conclude now with the not-too-deep (but still very pertinent) observation that Kellita Smith, the actress who plays Bernie' wife, is really gorgeous. And that sure doesn't hurt the show, either!