The problem: It premiered on NBC on the same night as CBS’s The Amazing Race, which had a similar premise but with a crucial difference: Race was fast-paced, with many teams and constant creative challenges. Three two-member teams of strangers were dropped in the middle of Mongolia, blindfolded and with no money, and had to figure out where they were and then get themselves back to New York. The idea: A reality show, not a comedy, and the first non– Late Night production from O’Brien’s company, Conaco. Once complaints from affiliates led ABC to reinstate commercials between shows, the ratings fell and the show was canceled.
The problem: As one critic who later received a profanity-filled fax from Roseanne put it, “Roseanne-and-Tom Arnold are never less funny than when cracking themselves up with each other’s excesses, and rarely have they been as indulged as in The Jackie Thomas Show, TV’s biggest ego trip since the Ross Perot Show.” The show was initially a ratings hit, thanks in part to the direct lead in from Roseanne and the then-revolutionary hot switch.
The idea: A former blue-collar dude (Tom Arnold) gets his own sitcom and runs it like a petty tyrant. The problem: The only thing worse than listening to loveless couples bicker about something tedious is following it with a panel of goofball judges halfheartedly making fun of them. The idea: A panel of comedians play marriage counselor to real-life couples. When The Royal Family came back, the viewers didn’t and it was soon canceled. Short-lived plans to end the show gave way to a new plan - adding Jackee. The show that was supposed to revive Foxx’s career did just that until he suffered a fatal heart attack on set. The problem: Perhaps it’s not fair to blame this on Murphy so much as on mortality. The idea: An Atlanta mailman (Redd Foxx) and his wife (Della Reese) have their peaceful retirement years interrupted when their daughter and her three kids move in. President was “more softcom than sitcom.” Of course, the bizarre programming strategy that had the show on once every hour in prime time could have had something to do with its eventual impeachment. The problem: When NBC turned Carson down, he took his show to Fox, which paired it with The Tracey Ullman Show for a wildly unsteady Thursday night. The idea: A behind-the-scenes look at the family life of the president (George C. The problem: Two years after Spaceballs, Hall of Fame belly laugher Brooks came out with a show that, as this very magazine put it in 1989, “wastes Harvey Korman and Cloris Leachman and is, perhaps, no better than we deserve or expect from Mel Brooks.” Only five episodes aired. The idea: A bunch of kooks, led by head kook Cloris Leachman, make fools of themselves while running a down-and-out New York hotel. ( Our TV critic is a rare, if hesitant, fan.) If Guys With Kids gets canceled, it’ll allow Fallon entry intro a small club of funny, likable, critically adored people who’ve created ham-fisted, unliked, critically panned projects that make you question everything you’ve ever laughed at. Congeniality last night with the premiere of Guys With Kids, an NBC sitcom that has received largely negative reviews.
Jimmy Fallon is, by all accounts, one of the the most likable guys to ever shove his face in front of a TV camera.
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