The Bill Engvall Show

Bill Engvall is one of my all-time favorite comedians, and this show was a fantastic showcase of his sarcastic down-home humor from his comedy albums (and it was a million times better than his buddy Jeff Foxworthy's self-titled mid-90's sitcom on ABC & NBC). What was great about this show is that it didn't resort to toilet humor, excessive profanity, and sexual innuendo like most modern "sitcoms" that are cluttering the airwaves today, and it was a fantastic alternative to the reality garbage on TV. TBS should be ashamed for pulling the plug on such an awesome show, and hopefully Warner Bros. will put the remaining episodes on DVD soon.

Bill Engvall is one of those comedians that I pause for, whenever I see him. Which is why, when I spotted a television show with him starring, I decided to give it a shot.

From almost the first line, I was not impressed. And things just went from bad to worse. The jokes are not just flat, they're stale. He has problems communicating with his wife ... just like Dick Van Dyke! His kids don't listen to him, but he's proved right in the end ... just like Bill Cosby! His work keeps him away from home ... just like, eh, you get the idea. the jokes are recycled, the story lines are recycled, and the characters are recycled.

Now, I don't necessarily blame Mr. Engvall for most of this. TV after all, has a long history of pulling the teeth from comics to make them palatable for the general public. I was quite looking forward to the George Lopez Show, for example, only to be similarly disappointed. But frankly, based on the utter blandness of this show, I have to wonder, just what did Engvall fight for? Anything? Oh, and I gave this two stars instead of one because Nancy Travis is worth watching.

Our family REALLY enjoyed this show! It's so hard to find something we can all watch together as a family but this show was GREAT!!!! It's too bad they don't have more shows like it on TV. It was funny and the humor was clean - we didn't have to worry about the teenagers or the younger kids watching. We're all sorry to see that it was canceled. I hope to see more of Bill Engvall, Nancy Travis and the rest of the cast in the very near future. (I don't really have anything else to say but it won't let me send my review until I have a minimum of ten lines so now I'm just trying to write things to fill the space. Sorry - I didn't realize I would have to write so much!)

Oh Dear Lord! Here's what bothers me most in a long (so very long) list of complaints: this guy is supposed to be a therapist! A caveman would have more sensitivity to people's problems in the 21st century than this guy! What is up with the screenplay? Just plain awful. Bill Engvall's acting is ridiculous. He only has ONE expression for any emotion: and guess what? It's NOT funny. The only reason I watched ALL 3 SEASONS of this garbage is Jennifer Lawrence; I thought: "hey I love J. Law's acting, how bad can the show be, right?" The fact that I almost got to the point of quitting J. Law on screen is a testament to how atrocious this "thing" is. Do not watch it! Unless you just have to because Jennifer Lawrence is in it (That's my reason anyway).

Very average family friendly show. Nothing crazy just family stuff and background laughter. Very few extras and locations make it stale pretty fast. First season was whatever, first half of second season was definitely the peak of the show and by the end of third season you'll be pretty tired of it just like the actors. The idea of Bill being a family therapist was never really explored and completely abandoned after fist season. I'd say it's worth watching for JLaw fans.