What a Country

An Americanisation of the British sitcom "Mind your language", this juvenile comedy was set in a class for newly arrived immigrants. The star of the show was Yakov Smirnoff, who gained a modicum of fame during the eighties.

Much of the humour was derived from the cultural peculiarities of the various students. In these more politically correct times it is doubtful that the show would have received any airtime. In any case, it was not particularly funny and barely lasted a full season.

What a Country was shown on syndication rather than network. It was one of those shows that was never going to succeed there. It was not that bad. Yakov proved his comedic talents about himself as a Russian immigrant trying to learn English in class with other immigrants. The appeal was there but it never launched into madcap humor or anything to be unforgettable. Yakov was a regular face on comedy shows at the time and he deserved a chance like so many comics to have his own show. Clearly, this show only lasted a season probably 20 more episodes than they would on network. That was the difference between syndication and network was that syndication was a place more for independent comedies like What a Country and Mama's Family. No, they weren't big budget but they were on a half-hour every Saturday. Now those half-hours are replaced by info-mercials. I wouldn't mind sitcoms (good or bad) because at least, they try to entertain us instead of infomercials with the exception of the Dean Martin Roasts and Carol Burnett Shows. The infomercials should get cancelled because they put me to sleep. So if I had a choice between a syndicated comedy like What A Country or an infomercial, you can probably guess that I wouldn't mind watching What A Country. As for the infomercial, I just change the channel or shut it off.