Monty

"Monty" marked a come-back for Henry Winkler to comedy television, in front of the camera. The "Fonze" was all grown up! We were also introduced to David Schwimmer who was even less likable in "Monty" than in "Friends". Still, we liked not liking him.

The show was incredibly funny. The jokes were unapologetically conservative and therefore much of the humor was lost on liberal audiences. Most people who saw it either loved or hated the show. I suspect that those in the latter group voiced their opinions loudly. Sadly, the series was canceled after just a few episodes.

Many successful conservative programs first met with initial resistance that eventually wore down. Who knows? Maybe Monty may have succeeded if it had been allowed to persist beyond this difficult initial stage.

Are you listening Comedy Central?

The Fonz is Limbaugh. It was an entire show dedicated to ripping off and mocking Rush Limbuagh. The problem is, it looked like a show made by somebody who never listened to him, and assumed all of those stereotypes about conservatives (racist, sexist, homophobic, ignorant) were true. So, cue the black woman sidekick, because that must be funny. It was just another mismatch comedy with predictable result, except that the main character was a Limbaugh wanna be. That may be funny for a sketch or two on SNL or MadTV, but not an entire half-hour - let alone week after week. Within a few weeks it was the least watched TV show in America, and then thankfully yanked. Don't expect the show to be out on DVD anytime soon. Making fun of something you don't understand is going to fail everytime.

Sadly this show lacked just about everything that a situation comedy could. Mercifully it was put out of its misery, but not before a few episodes escaped and were televised.