Friday, July 21, 2000
'Michael Richards Show' a shambles?
PASADENA, Calif. — It's hard to believe Michael Richards when he says his new NBC sitcom isn't in shambles, because it sounds like something that Kramer from Seinfeld would say.
“There's no trouble here,” says the three-time Emmy winner.
But members of the Television Critics Association at the annual summer press tour know otherwise.
The Michael Richards Show was so bad NBC didn't screen it for critics, after showcasing new comedies starring Katey Sagal (Tucker), Steven Weber and Chris Elliott (Cursed), David Alan Grier and Delta Burke (D.A.G.) and the new light-hearted drama from David Letterman's company (Ed).
Three new cast members — Tim Meadows (Saturday Night Live), William Devane (Knots Landing) and Amy Farrington (ER) — were hired just days ago as sidekicks for Mr. Richards' Vic Nardozza, a bumbling Kramer-like Los Angeles detective.
And the whole production style has been retooled, from a single-camera film show without an audience like Wonder Years or Malcolm in the Middle, to a conventional four-camera comedy in front of a studio audience.
In un-Kramer like detail, Mr. Richards explained that filming the half-hour pilot on location in Hollywood required an exhausting week of 15-hour days.
“We got an interesting look, but it broke me. I can't go week to week in a single-camera show. We had no time to rehearse the material,” said the comedian, who also is an executive producer.
“I wasn't able to put in the time I need to develop physical comedy to its max the way I wanted to,” he said.
Mr. Richards, who played wacky neighbor Cosmo Kramer for eight years, was not worried about his show, produced by former Seinfeld writers who penned the famous “Soup Nazi” and “Muffin Tops” episodes.
“(On) Seinfeld, we would take the table read ... script and throw it in the trash can, and all gone home and start on a new script,” he said.
His role model for Vic Nardozza was Pink Panther star Peter Sellers. “It would be nice if we could make it an American Inspector Clouseau. It's an ambition, but we'll have to see if the comedy gods are with us,” he said.
Speaking of the comedy gods, Mr. Richards has consulted with pal Jerry Seinfeld about the show.
At NBC's Ed, former Late Night with David Letterman producer Rob Burnett frequently has sought advice from the late-night TV star. Mr. Letterman punched parts of the script about a New York lawyer (Tom Cavanagh from Providence) who buys a bowling alley in his small hometown, fictional Stuckeyville, Ohio.
Could it be near Sharonville? Or Fayetteville?
“It's a town of about 10,000 about a half-hour from a big city. No McDonald's, no Barnes & Noble, no Starbucks,” says Jon Beckerman, an Ed executive producer.
“Right now it's just a fictional town in the Midwest, general Middle America,” Mr. Burnett says.
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