Fridays

Okay, I'll be really honest. I DID NOT see the infamous Andy Kaufman episode. I have heard so much about it, it has become a part of my memory.If I did, I don't remember it, at all. I tried to watch this show, but when it was on, I was usually out on a date, or doing something else.

I DO remember some of the great skits, such as Michael Richards going from Ronald Reagan to Richard Nixon, in a bit called "Altered Statesman", a play on the hit movie of the time "Altered States". I recall the group "Devo" being on, and the great ongoing bit about drugs, "Do we eat it, No-no no-no! Do we smoke it, ya-ya ya-ya!!!"

It WAS edgier than Saturday Night Live ever was, as it had to compete with the concept that SNL was king. But, if you remember, SNL went into a decline with the 80-81 cast, and critics were sure that "Friday's" would live a long life. I think that the show suffered from being shuffled around with it's start times. I don't know if local ABC affiliates would push the show back to show local programs, or the network just kept moving it. I remember seeing it in late '81, starting well after midnight, central time.

A perfect candidate for DVD/VHS release, or being shown on TVLand, or Comedy Central.

Friday's wasn't always brilliantly written but, unlike SNL, it was consistently funny.

Friday's was what SNL used to be, high energy, edgy and hip. SNL had become tedious and chances are that if you thought the same about Friday's you were just too young to understand the comedic references. SNL had become a media institution at that point (like Rolling Stone, which used to be considered part of The Underground Press) and if you had a media product to peddle it was simply a base that had to be touched by the star or written into the sketches.

Friday's didn't care about any of that; From the announcer's screaming greeting "Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive, from the Los Angeles basin!" to music by that day's hippest bands, Friday's showcased some of the most outrageous comedy to be found on TV. Most folks remember Darrow Igus's Rasta Gourmet - a one trick pony to be sure but a crowd pleaser every time - "Do we bake it?" "No no no no!" "Do we fry it?" "No no no no!" 'til finally "We SMOKE it!" "ya ya ya ya" exclaimed Igus' gourmet, whose only spice was Ganja.

Michael Richard's Battle Boy got sicker and sicker as he developed the character, finally taking his little Sister hostage, burying her in the ground and threatening to torture her Barbie. Most folks remember how he liked to set his Army men on fire, complete with simulated screams of agony.

I also liked Richard's hip biker record reviewer, wherein he sailed rejected albums (I usually agreed with him) into the crowd like so many Frisbees.

Mark Blankfield's DRUGS R US stoned out pharmacist made me exhausted watching it. He sailed back and forth on that ladder, popping the inventory and getting more crazed by the minute. Funniest bit was when two midgets walked into his store and he screamed MY GOD, I'VE GROWN!!! Bruce Mahler was brilliant in anything he touched, even his stupid dancing chickens was irresistible. He and Blankfiled excelled above the others in a skit called "Men mmmm Who mmmm Say mmmm 'MMMM' between mmmm Every mmmm Word." When they got going fast it was simply insane.

Another brilliant team bit that they repeated several times was The Transfibians, where three of them had "the operation" changing them into ManFishes. Their school-like movements were hysterical.

Chartoff, the show's cutie-pie, was also a brilliant performer. I don't recall any signature pieces of her's, beyond the News bit. I know she always held up her end of the log in skits - quite a feat among such an insane bunch. I do recall her doing a very edgy piece about a relative who was a molester (she played a little girl). SNL had a similar skit but Friday's took it farther.

I don't recall Larry David at all, I guess he didn't impress me. Rich Hall was there as well as on SNL.

Friday's was truncated right in the midst of it's comedic development. It was a long way from becoming stale like SNL and performers like Michael Richards had to finish the development of their characterizations elsewhere. In Richard's case his nervous tic ridden character begun on Friday's ended up giving birth to Seinfeld's Cramer.

When Friday's was canceled I was just leaving "The Biz," where I worked as an Accountant. Many insiders were mystified at the cancellation of a clearly superior show. Did somebody get a big wig's nose out of joint? Was Friday's deep-sixed for some manner of major faux pas ala Aresenio Hall? Surely the rise of Howdy Doody's big brother Ted Koppel and the creation of Nighline wasn't enough to bump a screamingly funny show like Fridays, was it? We probably will never know. I've seen Friday's reruns on some of the more obscure cable channels but I hope to see it on DVD one day, they'd fly off the shelves.

bB

I loved Fridays. That's why I had to comment on what I read about it here. Despite what the plot outline says, it had musical performances every week. I remember seeing The Cars perform one time and at the end of the show, Michael Richards stood next to Ric Ocasek (dressed just like him) and he looked like his twin!

It was also John Roarke that did the perfect Reagan impersonation. In fact, Roarke's impersonations in general were just awesome.

I'd really like to see all the episodes go to DVD. Michael Richard's performances alone merit that. Add to that Blankfield's Pharmacist, Chartoff's news and really all of the performer's characters and you have a very enjoyable show.

The late night sketch-comedy FRIDAYS began when SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE was transitioning from the original cast, and while not every skit is drop dead hilarious, and both were an Americanized MONTY PYTHON with far-out silliness pushed to deliberately insane, conceptual limits, it was a pretty cool show...

While SNL had become a kind of faded classic rock ashtray, FRIDAYS felt like one of those new wave/punk rock music store buttons with random shapes swimming in hip colors and brisk design...

Featuring Melanie Chartoff, the straight-woman liken to Jane Curtain only extremely sexy, and she could also play offbeat, wild-haired like Gilda Radner... not only terrific with improv but the primary newscaster, making the satirical stories all too real: a comedic performer and character-actress both...

But what made FRIDAYS really shine, other than Andy Kaufman's fake-yet-seemingly-convincing bout with future SEINFELD star Michael Richards, were those awesome live bands...

Ranging from THE CLASH to KISS with performances that sounded clearer, looser and more open/less constrained than SNL, the bands were even more important than sporadic celebrity hosts...

Making FRIDAYS a rare glimpse into that relatively neglected, limbo era when the 1970's had morphed into the 1980's before losing its sparse, exploitative edge and gaining that bright neon, arcade aesthetic... when The Clash fit best.

Fridays was a great show! Everything that everyone wrote is the absolute truth. I would also love to see re-runs on Comedy Central! I found this web site by trying to find Fridays on video because no one at work has ever heard of the show. How sad for them that they never got to experience this great show on a Friday night. My favorite was Michael Richards acting as the deranged boy picking on his sisters dolls while blowing up his soldiers. It reminded me so much of my brother and how he picked on us girls, lol. Of course the pharmacist pulling and twisting his hair and saying, "I can handle it" keeps popping in front of my mind. I really wish someone would show re-runs or at least put the episodes on video/DVD for purchase!