El Show de Norm

Norm McDonald is hilarious, he can't act, but he's hilarious. Facial expressions, one liners, flopped lines, hilarious. I'm sure he could walk into a wake and have everybody in stitches within minutes.

The shows premise had Norm working against his will as a counciler, insulting his clients, co-workers and superior. The majority of the costars acted as straight men (or people) that help set up Norms one liners, and then he'd continue with the jokes. His boss was mostly the brunt of his jokes, but then again he should have been used to it. He was once a straight man for ALF (Yo Willy!!!!).

It was the one sitcom that I'd be anxious to watch, but it suddenly disappeared.

Network: ABC; Genre: Sitcom; Content Rating: TV-14 (for language and crude & sexual humor); Classification: contemporary (Star range: 1 - 4)

Season Reviewed: Complete Series (3 seasons)

After a high profile bouncing from the Weekend Update desk on 'Saturday Nigh Live' the irrepressible Norm MacDonald was able to land softly in this, his own self-titled series for ABC. From creators Deborah Oppenheimer and Bruce Helford ('The Drew Carey Show'), 'The Norm Show' is a sitcom that is very much in touch with the specific sense of humor of its lead and knows how to best convey it. This show is what 'Drew Carey' could have been had it not evolved into a self-indulgent star vehicle in the final seasons.

MacDonald plays Norm Henderson, a former hockey player sent into community service after being busted on gambling charges. The plot is just thin enough for any number of possible gags. He is kept in line by dedicated public servant (Laurie Metcalf) and constantly making a fool of his incredulous supervisor Denby (Max Wright, 'Alf'). Ian Gomez ('The Drew Carey Show') and joining later Nikki Cox ('Unhappily Ever After') and Faith Ford ('Murphy Brown') do a fine job keeping up with the shows bounding energy, but it's character-named leads MacDonald, Metcalf and Wright that are run the show.

'Norm' feels like it was poured out of MacDonald's head. Too often funny comedians come into a sitcom and flounder around, muffled by its trappings. But MacDonald finds himself right at home here. Through the years the episodes have some bizarre and creative plots that push the boundaries of reality. The crude humor is piled high and thick, but McDonald is able to turn the oldest gags into an honest laugh with his trademark deadpan comic delivery. His touch is everywhere. MacDonald has never been funnier and sitcom veterans Metcalf (criminally underrated in everything she does) and Wright fall into his twisted groove perfectly.

'Norm' is a relationship series through and through with all the usual trappings. It has a preoccupation with dating, sex and bed-hopping amongst its ensemble that would turn the head of even the biggest 'Friends' fan. As a relationship show it is peerlessly funny. But while the show's crude humor and office comedy elements work well, it never convinced me that it needs to be a relationship comedy. Do we really need Norm and co. going through some contrived love-lorn drama? And do we really believe MacDonald when proclaims to be 'in love' with someone he met that week? Particularly when he does it in the exact same dry, monotonous voice that serves the jokes so well, but is impossible to take seriously. This is a regrettable kink in the armor for me. And it doesn't help that ABC shuttled this show out the door with nary a whisper in its final season.

Most of the time, however, 'Norm' does it right and rises above the usual banality of this material. It lacks any pretension about itself and is refreshingly free of the melodrama that bogs down most shows of this ilk. Its purpose, first and foremost, is a giddy laugh. It is the crude, sex comedy in near top form where so many other shows fall flat. It aims low but it gets the job done.

'Norm' doesn't break the mold of the sitcom and try anything revolutionary, but within this mold (the one-liners, the put-upon boss, the cute wiener dog stealing the show, and the typical office & apartment setting) 'Norm' fills out the genre, stretching it to the limits and, best of all, getting genuine laugh-out-loud belly laughs. On a side note, the original "wrecking ball" opening sequence is, I think, a modest classic among intros.

Here's one of the highest compliments you can give. 'Norm' makes me wonder why so many traditional sitcoms flail about in such embarrassing desperation to get the slightest laugh. McDonald makes it all look effortless. It just shows what great casting, performers willing to dive head-first into the material, and exceptional comic delivery can do for you. A silly, mindless and truly hysterically funny series. Its hard to ask for anything more in this type of show.

* * * / 4

I recently grabbed an old VHS I had in my closet and popped it in. On that tape were about 12 episodes from this series. I had forgotten how funny it was. I'm glad I saved the tape.

It's humour was far from highbrow though--much closer to Married With Children and The War At Home. Norm always makes me laugh--even in his weird cheese sitcom that came out years later.

Release this series on DVD please. With all the crap releases we see all the time, there has got to be room for this show. Just a few special features are needed. I'd be happy to have it near bare bones even, like Newsradio is doing. Just release it on the DVD format.

This show was funny when it debuted, but it didn't really take off until the second season. In my opinion, ABC had something here that could have surpassed "The Drew Carey Show," but unfortunately the timing was all wrong. "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" exploded onto the television scene (for reasons I still cannot understand) and all of a sudden ABC forgot about everything else. The network made it nearly impossible to watch Norm. TV Guide would list it on Friday at 9pm, so you'd tune in only to see Regis' evil, smiling face, mocking you. Sometime during the week ABC had decided to move Norm to 8pm and Millionaire to 9pm. Hey, you missed Norm, tough luck! So the next week you tune in at 8 pm but there's REGIS again! A special 90-minute Millionaire followed by Norm at 9:30. At least you get to see it. Next week - a two hour Millionaire and Norm is never heard from again. ABC rides Regis for all he's worth and now they're consistently beaten in the ratings because they have no proven quality shows. Cry me a river, ABC.

I have just watched the pilot, and I am positive that this show will be a hit. I am a big Norm Macdonald fan, and could not stop laughing during the pilot. This show is Norm at his best. If you liked "Dirty Work", or Norm on SNL, then give this show a chance. One of the funniest lines on the show is when he (Norm) is trying to convince a young call girl to stop turning tricks. After Laurie Metcalf told the girl that nothing is sadder than a seventy year-old prostitute, Norm replies "yeah, you don't want to have to take your teeth out 30-40 times a day". Long live Norm!!