Charlie Hoover

Today's technical wizardry wasn't available when Charlie Hoover was in production. Sam Kinison's character was a little guy standing on Charlie's shoulder. The technical challenge of hand-coordinatng two cameras required Sam to stand still so they could position him -- maybe bowing a little, or maybe making a hand gesture or two. But his natural high energy was lost and his comedic genius was stifled. The whole thing could have been cured by allowing Sam to be a full-sized person. But no, a suicidal embrace of the "little guy" concept sent this show into the crapper. And more, the set was plagued by a director who micro-managed every tiny aspect of expression, vocal emphasis and movement. They couldn't have done a better job of suffocating the special talents of Sam Kinison, Tim Matheson, and Leslie (Engleberg) Kendall.

Charlie Hoover was the awarding accomplishment of Sam Kinison. After fighting addictions with drugs and alcohol, he redefined himself and put his life back in order. Due to his wild lifestyle it wasn't until 1991 that Kinison was finally able to get a network to back him in a show. Finally, after going the distance, Fox put Sam Kinison in Charlie Hoover. He played the deep inner voice of Tim Matheson's character Charlie, who was pushed around in life.

Kinison was portrayed as a three inch tall figment of Charlie's depressed and downtrodden psych. It was pure chemistry as Sam played the part to the letter. He was that inner voice screaming for bloody vengeance in a comedic way. Pushing Charlie to stand up for himself against his co-workers and especially his mother-in-law. The power of the series was cut short tragically when Sam Kinison was killed in an auto accident which many would call vehicular homicide. He gave so much to the comedy world, shaping the way stand up comedians perform uncensored.

This was a great show and I can only hope that it will be placed on DVD to be seen by the new generations who didn't grow up hearing Sam's distinctive scream.

Despite popular belief, this show was not cut short by Sam Kinison's death. He died in 1992, and the show was canceled after only 7 episodes in 1991.

No matter how much you like Sam Kinison (and I do), there's really no excusing the show. Despite his talent and ability to work in 'cleaned up' roles quite well, Sam Kinison could not make up for the incredibly mediocre premise and writing for the show.

Ironically, the exact same premise was later ripped off, with Bobcat Goldwait as the 'inner voice' in the show Unhappily Ever After, which was a hit, running for 100 episodes. Personally, I thought Charlie Hoover was funnier.