Kelsey Grammer Presents: The Sketch Show

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Fox doesn't know what they are doing. A good sketch show, canceled so they can load their station in with more stupid reality shows. Anyway, I liked this show because it had nice, short, punchy sketches that lasted no more then ten seconds. It was good for a laugh or a chuckle, not laugh on the floor funny, but still it was okay. It was a good way for Kelsey Grammar to go in entertainment after Frasier. I think somebody who would have been great for this show but wasn't on it is Jerry Minor. He was great on Trigger Happy TV and Mr. Show with Bob and David. To bad for this sketch good show.

First of all, I would like to congratulate Kelsey Grammar and the cast of "The Sketch Show." The premiere episode was tonight, and it was fantastic. I am very excited to have such original, smart humor and I look forward to many more episodes to come. I was introduced to some new talents, all of whom were fantastic. It was nice to witness Kelsey in these light humored scenarios. Although "Fraiser," which was fantastic, was filled with laughs, there is something new and refreshing about this program. I am very much a fan of the way the situational skits flow into each other, some, connecting back to previous skits, with renewed laughter, and the way the even express about the occasional one liners. It was also a pleasure to see the uniquely beautiful Mary Lynn Rajskub, of "24," and "Punch Drunk Love," fame playing something so openly funny and true to herself. I can't wait to see more. Everyone must check out this show!

Alright, so I really wanted to enjoy this show. Veterans of Mr. Show With Bob And David will always have a soft spot in my heart (yes, even Paul F. Tompkins), and Kelsey Grammar is a good guy as well. But the show has to meet me half-way at the very least. The writing just isn't all that clever, and this is made excruciatingly clear in the longer routines. Were there some laughs? Yes. Some of the visual gags were decent, and a couple the fifteen-second / one-liner skits worked fairly well, but a four-minute skit about moronic group of backup vocalists really just makes the half-hour drag. The show is entirely hit-or-miss, and the hit ratio is going to need a whole lot of improvement if this program is going to outlive The Downer Channel's six-or-so-episode run. Mad TV at least makes me expect less, but with this show's cast, I'm going to have to be a bit more demanding.

This show has it's moments, but in general the show is kind of corny and unfunny. The quick puns and one-liners are occasionally predictable as well. I really don't see this show lasting over 6 episodes, and I'm quite surprised that FOX even gave a show like this a chance. I have recorded every episode that has aired so far just so I can say that I have them, but this show really only appeals to a certain type of person I guess. Either you will love it or you will hate it. My guess is that the show will go down the same route as many other FOX shows such as Oliver Beene and The Pitts, which really weren't bad shows, they just umm...

Just saw the first episode. The best sketches were a downright copy of the original UK series. They still got me laughing, because the original was so good, it could never become bad. But the phobia sketch was horribly mutilated and wasn't funny at all. The bad sketches were those where Kelsey came in, except for the psychiatrist sketch maybe. They just weren't up to par with the others.

If you can watch the original UK series, don't bother with this. If you can't, this is not really a bad replacement. I have seen worse remakes. For example, the US version of Red Dwarf comes to mind, amongst a lot of others :)