Grammer’s ‘Hank’ Tries Different Comedic Approach

The new ABC sitcom Hank is rather short on big laughs, but it’s well-stocked with good ideas and sound values. The big question is, will ABC give it a chance?

Hank is the first of two family-oriented comedies ABC is running back-to-back on Wednesday nights beginning at 8 p.m., with each show featuring a big former sitcom star.

Most TV sitcoms, and that goes double for ABC, are largely about what the great filmmaker and satirist Preston Sturges referred to as Topic A. That is because Americans presumably have nothing else on their minds–other than being murdered or having to go to the hospital, the subject matter of most TV dramas.

Hank bucks that restriction, attempting to mine humor from family relationships, romantic love, and social conditions–which used to be the central subjects of Anglo-American comedy before the relaxing and eventual discarding of social and cultural restrictions on discussions of sex freed Hollywood to parade its inner sex maniac with impunity and in fact great financial success. (more…)

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Tags: "Cheers", "Hank", "The Honeymooners", abc, kelsey grammer
Posted Oct 16th 2009 at 10:46 am in Reviews, Television | 24629432 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/stkarnick/2009/10/16/grammers-hank-tries-different-comedic-approach/Grammer%27s+%27Hank%27+Tries+Different+Comedic+Approach2009-10-16+17%3A46%3A24S.T.+Karnick

Patricia Heaton and Co. Offer Smart Sitcom in ‘The Middle’

The smart new sitcom The Middle presents a positive but realistic view of Middle America’s pursuit of the American Dream. 

Set in the fictional small town of Orson, Indiana, The Middle (8:30 EDT) follows Hank in ABC’s new Wednesday night lineup and like the Kelsey Grammer program, it features a big sitcom star, Patricia Heaton, in a lead role. Also like Hank, The Middle takes a comic but sympathetic look at Middle America, described by central character Frankie Heck (Heaton) as “One of those places you fly over on your way from Somewhere to Somewhere Else but you wouldn’t live here.”

The writing of the pilot episode is particularly strong, and it even uses a couple of symbols to very good effect: a jet flying overhead, and Frankie’s new drivers license with its grossly unattractive photo documenting how badly life has been beating her down. Heaton’s willingness to make herself look silly and physically unattractive is used to great effect in the pilot episode and shows great sense on her part and that of the show’s producers.  (more…)

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Tags: "The Middle", kelsey grammer, Malcolm in the Middle, patricia heaton
Posted Oct 12th 2009 at 6:44 am in Reviews, Television | 24412242 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/stkarnick/2009/10/12/patricia-heaton-and-co-offer-smart-sitcom-in-the-middle/Patricia+Heaton+and+Co.+Offer+Smart+Sitcom+in+%E2%80%98The+Middle%E2%80%992009-10-12+13%3A44%3A30S.T.+Karnick

Gold Star Mom: Debbie Argel-Bastian

To Hollywood

Logan is trying to understand, but he is only four. His father’s plane went down in Iraq on Memorial Day of 2008. When asked about his dad, he puts his hand on his heart and says, “My daddy is a hero.” He goes to get his toy tool kit. He is going to fix the plane so that daddy can come home. Logan loves to hear the stories from the small group of Combat Controllers that knew his dad. Soon, a book will be out for him. The book is called “Letters for Logan.” It will tell the story of the soldier and the man. Logan is too young to understand the anger, bitterness, poor timing and judgment of Hollywood, California. Logan is not alone. On the plane that carried five good men to heaven that day, six children lost their dads. There are over 700 children of fallen Spec Ops Warriors to date.

The soldier is my son, Capt. Derek Argel. In the sixth grade, he made a decision that to serve God, Country and family was a privilege and not a right. He understood that the gifts he had been given in athletic and intellectual abilities were to be shared with his country. Less than 300 men did his job, worldwide. They were the elite of the elite.

At that time, he decided he would become the best officer and Special Ops Warrior he could for the freedoms and gifts this country gave him. He was the best son a mother could ask for. He was everyone’s best friend. Most felt he would become a General, then run for President. (more…)

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Tags: Capt. Derek Argel, Cindy Sheehan, gary sinise, Gold star parents, kelsey grammer
Posted Jun 25th 2009 at 3:02 pm in Featured Story, Military | 168782One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/gsmothers/2009/06/25/gold-star-mom-debbie-argel-bastian/Gold+Star+Mom%3A+Debbie+Argel-Bastian2009-06-25+22%3A02%3A56Gold+Star+Mothers

The Broadway Season I’d Like To See

The horrifying news that Susan Sarandon will make her Broadway debut this Spring (because Broadway isn’t left ENOUGH?) has gotten me to thinking… Instead of Ms. Sarandon, and Rosie O’Donnell and Alec Baldwin & Jessica Lange (in the SAME play, no less) why can’t a Broadway season contain actors who are not so excruciatingly annoying?  I’m not even saying actors who are center/right in their politics — but how about actors who just focus on acting and, when off-camera, acting with class?

Here’s my wish-list for that season, in a perfect world…

(more…)

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Tags: broadway, bruce willis, kelsey grammer, patricia heaton, robert duvall
Posted Jan 13th 2009 at 7:36 am in Celebrity News, Entertainment | 1657751 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/01/13/a-broadway-season-id-like-to-see/The+Broadway+Season+I%27d+Like+To+See2009-01-13+15%3A36%3A50Stage+Right