Stark, loco de atar

Well, those morons at NBC have done it again! One of the funniest shows on TV these days is about to longer be on TV. Obviously, judging by both the people who have previous written here, and the fact they won a People's Choice Award for Favorite New Comedy, "Stark Raving Mad" was well loved, despite what those stupid Neilson ratings say. But even if it had come back, chances are they'd toy with it and try to "fix" it and end up screwing it up worse anyway, like NBC always does with Thursday night shows (Jesse, The Naked Truth, Veronica's Closet, Suddenly Susan. . .)!

Tonight, they finally aired another good one, the much delayed "The Pidgeon" episode with Wes Craven. I saw absolutely no promotion for this episode, which should have aired during "guest star week" last week. Although there's another new one listed for next week, "He's Gotta Have It," judging by next week's commercials, it probably won't air. What a waste to spend the money to make these shows, when they don't bother to air a lot of them!

Perhaps through cable this series will have an afterlife in the future. But until then, we will miss you, Ian Stark, Henry McNeeley, and associates. And a big THANK YOU to NBC for killing another of their increasingly few, hysterical sitcoms!

OK, I wasn't as broken up as when they cancelled Bakersfield PD, the early canning of which was one of the great Media Crimes of the 20th century, but axing this one was a big mistake! As was mentioned by others with taste, the show kept getting better and better and was coming into its own. This they only give one year but Veronica's Closet was allowed to smell up the tube for three years? Yeah, that makes sense. I can only hope that SRM and Sports Night will be picked up by another network and the talents (including the mind-tinglingly pretty Heather Paige Kent) will continue in the series. Loved the theme, too.

Looking through all the comments on this show, I see that I am not the only one who couldn't understand the cancelling of this show. But that's water under the bridge, now. BUT WAIT - we have so many shows, including Sports Night, going to DVD. Would it be impossible for NBC to bite the bullet and release it to us fans and include any unaired but taped episodes? What a bonus, what a thought - it'll never happen, right?

It's a shame this show only lasted like one season. I found it to be really funny. I like Tony Shalhoub in almost anything that he does, and he was great as an eccentric, more goofy version of Stephen King. He never fails to haul in the laughs, with his childish little pranks. And then we introduce his roommate: an anal retentive young man with obsessive compulsive disorder. A great combo! Neil Patrick Harris shows off his comic skills, as opposed to playing the serious doc on "Doogie Howser, M.D." I think Harris has a good head on his shoulders, and if he keeps up the good work, he can succeed in the biz. Hopefully, he will, because I don't want him to become another Macaulay Culkin.

"Stark Raving Mad" was very funny, and hopefully they'll show the reruns on USA. As for Shalhoub and Harris, good luck in your future endeavors.

My score: 7 (out of 10)

I absolutely LOVE this show! It's one of the best shows in the line up since the first seasons of Friends. Neil Patrick Harris and Tony Shalhoub are perfect foils... one neurotic and fresh, the other free and seasoned. Jake is fantastic, injecting the innocent, almost senseless humorous comments that draw a laugh almost every time. The execution of the humor is fresh also, delivered in such a way that we should see it coming but don't. With some time, this series could make a lot of people split their sides laughing. The chemistry among the cast is evident and wonderful... I can't wait to see more!