Somehow, I've found myself watching reruns of "The Bernie Mac Show" quite often recently, usually late at night and on some podunk network. This is a remarkable occurrence because I sort of loathe television, particularly sitcoms, and most especially family sitcoms.
But I don't loathe Bernie Mac! It's actually a pretty clever show. It has a number of signature gimmicks that might annoy some viewers, but I like them; Bernie talks to the camera a lot, for example, breaking the so-called "fourth wall." There are also plenty of amusing pop-up captions that comment on the action.
The plot is relatively straightforward stuff - Bernie is suddenly entrusted with the care of his two nieces and his wheezy little nephew, and he must somehow cope with this unexpected foray into the territory of "fatherhood." Though this may sound really standard, the scripts, from what I've seen, actually contain some pretty insightful and clever observations about parenting.
Maybe the best part is that the show is filmed like a movie, complete with moody lighting and interesting camera angles. Visually speaking, it just blows away all the cheap-looking sitcoms that are filmed on over-lit, tacky three-walled sets. I wonder when other sitcoms will finally get around to switching over to this more "cinematic" look?
I'll conclude now with the not-too-deep (but still very pertinent) observation that Kellita Smith, the actress who plays Bernie' wife, is really gorgeous. And that sure doesn't hurt the show, either!
