Le monde de Dave

"Dave's World" didn't have much to do with its source material, the work of Pulitzer-winning columnist Dave Barry, whose columns, unlike the series, rarely contain so much sap that people have to blow their noses with a pancake. The poker-table banter between Shel, Kenny and Dave and Patrick Warburton's occasional appearances usually provided a chuckle. Generally speaking, this show strained to stay within its family-fare pretext. Maybe this had to do with the show being broadcast on CBS, which targets an older viewer demographic. Still, it suffices for killing a spare half hour.

I'm a great fan of truly funny TV shows (early Seinfeld, etc), and I think Dave's World is easily worthy of being in that class. It never failed to make me laugh. The characters were likable, all the actors were first-rate, and there are still lines my husband and I trade back and forth. I'm a writer by profession so perhaps that explains one reason I love it so, but I think anyone who has ever stumbled along while crossing the bridge between youth and middle age will recognize themselves in it.

Every issue brought up on each episode was delved into with great insight and inherent humor. Who couldn't love the Thanksgiving episode with Dave continually on his way to shower and get dressed, and yet we see him at the end of the episode, still in his bathrobe at dinner? As a Christmas baby, I loved Shadoe Stevens' character and his riff on being born on that holiday. Great stuff for real people to identify with.

It's not high, sophisticated comedy, but that's part of its charm.

With some good guffaws tossed in here and there, "Dave's World" just doesn't hold a candle to real-life Barry's words of wisdom. Harry Anderson does the best with what he's got, but even that couldn't save this sinking ship.

Worth a view or two, but I'd rather read Dave Barry's real columns.

Grade: C

Dave is a man that likes to take it easy, so his weekly sport column is always handed in late. Mostly they sit in the livingroom drinking beer and playing cards. Dave, his wife, their kids, Sheldon and Kenny. Kenny is Daves boss, and he is always thinking about women. Sheldon is a successfull doctor who is divorced, and a bit tense. Harry Anderson is ok, and Patrick Warburton drops by from time to time. He is just like he is in Seinfeld. This show is great when you have just woke up Sunday morning. Senseless.

I am surprised by some of the other comments regarding Dave's World. I think the series was generally pretty good. It was an old-fashioned comedy, one with laughs and character observations, and NO social commentary or Emmy-targeted sob-story episodes.

I was a fan of Dave Barry in the early 90s - and forgive me any Barry fans - but I did not think that his columns were so remarkable that the TV show was an insult to his work. Barry generally seemed to write from an urban "aw, shucks!" hapless male perspective, and Dave's World reflected this.

And, apart from Seinfeld, and a few other comedies, I do not think there were all that many shows from that period that were better than Dave's World. The show did not get the recognition it deserved, primarily because it was not trendy. It did not showcase a bunch of 30-something actors playing 20-somethings, did not have a "cool" city or neighborhood as its setting (back then Florida was Golden Girls territory), and did not feature 90s lifestyle hot keys (grungy youth, coffee drinking, the IT world, emerging celebrity culture) in its plots.

When I get a chance, I shall pick up the DVDs and sit down to a good, healthy, ingenuous laugh.