TV Cartoons, 1995
2
SOMETHING FUNNY GOING O N A L O O K A T C A R T O O N S O N PRIME-TIME B Y A N D R E W M I L N E R tie-time cartoons have finally come of age.. Thirty-five years ago, when T he Flintstones debuted, nobody cared much that it w as practically an exact copy of The Honeymoon- en . It was enough that Hannah-Barbera ha d creat- ed human cartoon charac- ters (a TV first) and put them in half-hour situa- tions. Later came T h e Jet- sons', essentially a copy of T h e Flintstones updated from the stone age to the space age. Originality w as not an overriding goal of the times. Today we've been blessed with a new genera- tion of animated sitcoms— comedies with the potential to be every bit as idiosyn- cratic an d biting as Larry Sanders or Ma d About You, but in cartoon form. Here' s a look at the cur- rent crop of prime-time cartoons. T h e most recent is Comedy Central's new Dr. KaC. Professional Thera- pist Boston-based comic maah-m Katz plays the ti- tle daraner. a -Wish Ne w York stank whose twen- tysome&iBS SOD Ben lives with him wtale sort ot u .- ing to fm d a job (Where d o they come op wife these "~ _" 7' ^~r^' * •_"_ aduhs?). The doc's' tele is made up of ups. including Dora ben, Joy Behar, an d Larrt Miller During their aons D r. Katz does Ihrie more than toss ou t straight lines— "What w as your childhood like 9 "— as th e comics launch into their routines, with a few ani- mated visuals thrown in to flesh out the monologues. There's a nice, low-key aspect to Dr. Katz, one not found in Comedy Central's typical in-your-face pro- gramming. T he dialogues between Katz and Ben are reminiscent of Albert Brooks or Woody Allen — no t quite as hilarious, but like them, Katz is keenly aware of the differences be- tween what people say and what they really mean. The relationship between Katz an d hi s hostile receptionist (she to him: "Do you know what it's like to deal with crazy people all day?") is also charming. But... there's also a strong whiff of gimmickry to the proceedings. T h e menagerie tients is largely made up of the B-grade stand-ups of the 1980s, uie ones who didn't get a sitcom with their names in the title. They play themselves an d d o nothing except their bits; they don't interact a t al l with Katz in his person- al life. Roseanne on is able to gen- uinely act and even d o pathos; th e comics" here glibly do the one-liners that | you will dimly recall fronT Leno, Letterman, and even Carson. (A t least th e show acknowledges this; during the final monologue, th e balding of a piano can be heard in the shrink's office, a b The Tonight Show. "YTanow what that means, don't you?" Katz asks. cm of time." The just sit stupidly ide me dosing credits come up.) And th e much ballyhooed computer ani- mation employed to pro- duce Dr. Kan is pretty overrated. It doesn't look much different from exist- ing cartoon technology, an d isn't even used to full effect to illustrate the stand- up routines. During th e comic shtick, Dr. Katz might as well be live ac- tion. Nonetheless I still have affection for the show, h i its portrayal of a put-upon psychiatrist D r. Katz ma y not surpass The Bob Newhart Show or Frasier in TV history, bu t it's good duce T h e Simpsons, it was decidedly not in that same league. Jon Lovitz starred as the title character. Ja y Sherman, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic hosting a cable Sneak Previews-like show. T h e clips of the films he re- viewed were the best thing about this show (Spike Lee's Malcolm F , about th e late Mr. Forbes, an d espe- cially Tim Burton's Th e Nightmare before Hanukkah, shot in stop-ac- tion animation). Bu t the rest of the gags were strangely belabored and needlessly spelled out. In one, Jay's sister com- plained that at the girls' school the only available Unl-hmmmmmmm. Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist. enough an d smart enough that, doggone it, people jus t might like it. Dr . Katz joins three ex - isting cartoon series: Fox's T he Critic (now, alas, can- celed), USA's Duckman (Saturdays, 10:30) an d Fox's T h e Simpsons (Sun- days, 8:00). As for those: T h e Critic debuted in 1994 on ABC, w as can- celed and then bought by Fox earlier this year, wh ere it was dumped again. W hile it was produced by two of the people w ho pro- gu y was Ed Koch (joke # 1 ) . A Koch caricature then appeared in the window, asking, "How'm I doing?" (joke #2 ) "Get lost!" (#3) Koch slipped away mutter- ing, "I'm no t doing so good!" (#4). That's three gags too many, and the first on e ain't so incisive itself. T h e Critic would also make a reference to a film or TV show an d assume that this was the same as making some sort of satiri- cal comment about it. Beyond that, there was a blandness at the show's center. W orse, I could nev- er sense an individual cre- ative voice behind T h e Critic. When you watch T h e Twilight Zone, you're aware of Rod Serling even when he's offscreen, through th e casting, the di- alogue, th e pacing. Th e Critic always seemed as if it were designed by com- mittee ("Let's put a Schwarzenegger joke here— everybody knows Schwarzenegger!" "Yeah, and let's do a Stallone joke there— everyone'll ge t it!") Ultimately, th e reason T he Critic flopped ma y just be that critics don't really lead terribly funny lives. They watch somebody per- form, they write about whether they liked it or not, they occasionally get paid, they wait for the next thing to review. It's not an excit- in g existence. Take my word for it. Duckman. N o t since th e early days of T h e Simp- sons h as there been a sit- co m this brilliant. Jason Alexander plays th e easily excitable "private dick/family man" trying to enjoy sex, cigarettes and booze in the 1990s while staying one step ahead of th e feds whenever possible ("The FB I raided that busi- ness I invested in...Y'know, I wish they'd publish some kind of guideline: This is babyselling, this is n ot babyselling!"). H is side- kick is a pig named Corn- fed, out of whose Joe Fri- day-like delivery comes ex - istential philosophy. H is secretaries, Fluffy an d Uranus, spout '90s feel- good rhetoric to the point where even W illiam Ben- nett would gladly strangle them, and Duckman does regularly toss them into a blender or send them through th e shredder. Duckman's a widower whose harridan of a sister- in-law, Bernice, helps raise h is kids, including a two- headed child named continued on page 19 IN View'J!uy 15-July 21 -1995
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F U N N Y G O I N G O NL O O K A T C A R T O O N S O N P R I M E - T I M E
Y A N D R E W M I L N E R
tie-time cartoonshave finally comeof age.. Thirty-fiveyears ago, when
he Flintstones debuted,cared much that it
as practically an exactof The Honeymoon-
. It was enough that
ha d creat-human cartoon charac-(a TV first) and put
in half-hour situa-Later came T he Jet-essentially a copy of
he Flintstones updatedthe stone age to theage. Originality was
Today we've beenwith a new genera-
of animated sitcoms—
es with the p otentialevery bit as idiosyn-and biting as Larry
or M ad About Y o u ,
cartoon form.Here's a look at the cur-
crop of prime-time
The most recent isnew Dr.
Professional T h e ra -Boston-based comic
Katz plays the ti-daraner. a -Wish Ne w
stank whose twen-SOD Ben lives
wtale sort ot u .-fm d ajob (W here do
come op wife these"~ _" 7' ^~r̂ ' * • _ " _
The doc's'is made up of
including Dora ben,an d Larrt
During theirD r. Katz does Ihrie
toss ou t straight"W hat was your
like9"— as the
launch into theirwith a few ani-
visuals thrown in to
flesh out the monologues.There's a nice, low-key
aspect to Dr. Katz, one notfound in Comedy Central'stypical in-your-face pro-gramming. The dialoguesbetween Katz and Ben arereminiscent of AlbertBrooks or W oody Allen —no t quite as hilarious, butlike them, Katz is keenlyaware of the differences be-tween what people say andwhat they really mean. Therelationship between Katzan d his hostile receptionist(she to him: "Do you knowwhat it's like to deal withcrazy people all day?") isalso charming.
But... there's also astrong whiff of gimmickryto the proceedings. Themenagerie of Katz's pa-tients is largely made up ofthe B-grade stand-ups ofthe 1980s, uie ones whodidn't get a sitcom withtheir names in the title.They play themselves anddo nothing except theirbits; they don't interact at
al l with Katz in his person-al life. Roseanne onRoseanne is able to gen-uinely act and even dopathos; th e comics" hereglibly do the one-liners that
| youwill dimly recall fronTLeno, Letterman, and evenCarson. (A t least the showacknowledges this; duringthe final monologue, thebalding of a piano can beheard in the shrink's office,a b The Tonight Show."YTanow what that means,don't you?" Katz asks.
cm of time." Thejust sit stupidly
wide me dosing credits
come up.) And the much
ballyhooed computer ani-mation employed to pro-duce Dr. Kan is pretty
overrated. It doesn't look
much different from exist-ing cartoon technology,and isn't even used to fulleffect to illustrate the stand -up routines. During th ecomic shtick, Dr. Katzmight as well be live ac-tion.
Nonetheless I still ha veaffection for the show, hi itsportrayal of a put-uponpsychiatrist Dr. Katz ma ynot surpass The BobNewhar t Show or Frasier
in TV history, bu t it's good
duce The Simpsons , it wasdecidedly not in that sameleague. Jon Lovitz starredas the title character. JaySherman, a two-timePulitzer Prize-winning filmcritic hosting a cable Sneak
Previews- l ike show. Theclips of the films he re-viewed w ere the best thingabout this show (SpikeLee's Malcolm F, about th elate Mr. Forbes, and espe-cially Tim Burton's T h eNigh tmare before
Hanukkah , shot in stop-ac-tion animation).
But the rest of the gagswere strangely belaboredand needlessly spelled out.In one, Jay's sister com-plained that at the girls'school the only available
Unl-hmmmmmmm. Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist.
enough and smart enoughthat, doggone it, people jus tmight like it.
Dr . Katz joins three ex-isting cartoon series: Fox'sThe Critic (now, alas, can-celed), USA's Duckman(Saturdays, 10:30) an dFox's T he Simpsons (Sun-days, 8:00). As for those:
T he Critic debuted in1994 on ABC, was can-celed and then bought byFox earlier this year, wh ere
it was dumped again.W hile it was produced bytwo of the people who pro-
guy was Ed Koch (joke #1). A Koch caricature thenappeared in the window,asking, "How'm I doing?"(joke #2) "Get lost!" (#3)Koch slipped aw ay mutter-i n g , "I'm no t doing sogood!" (#4). That's threegags too many, and the firston e ain't so incisive itself.T he Critic would a lsomake a reference to a filmor TV show and assumethat this was the same as
making some sort of satiri-cal c omment about it.
Beyond that, there was
a blandness at the scenter. W orse, I coulder sense an individuaative voice behindCritic. W hen you The Twilight Zone ,aware of Rod Serling
when he's offscthrough the casting, talogue, th e pacing.Critic always seemedit were designed bymittee ("Let's p
Schwarzeneggerhere— everybody kSchwarzenegger!" "and let's do a Stallonthere— everyone'llit!")
Ultimately, the rThe Critic flopped mabe that critics don't lead terribly funnyThey watch somebodform, they write wh ether they liked it othey occasionally getthey wait for the nextto review. It's not an ing existence. Takword for it.
Duckman. Notthe early day s of Thesons has there beenco m this brilliant. Alexander plays theexcitable "pdick/family man" tryenjoy sex, cigarettebooze in the 1990sstaying one step ahethe feds whenever po("The FB I raided thatness I invested in...Y'I wish they'd publishkind of guideline: Tbabyselling, this ibabyselling!"). Hiskick is a pig named f e d , out of whose Jo
day-like delivery comistential philosophysecretaries, FluffyUranus, spout '90sgood rhetoric to thewhere even W illiamnett would gladly stthem, and Duckmanregularly toss them blender or send through th e shrDuckman' s a wiwhose harridan of ain-law, Bernice, helps
his kids, including aheaded child n
continued on p
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from page 3
Mambo.In the series' debut weDuckman's arch-neme-
who escaped Duck-'s clutches y et again. A
Duckman wasto watching homeW e saw S t eamboat
footage of him
Popeye
nes of h im as a boy vain-trying to sy ;Olive Oyl ,B e a r shots of him as a
(as BooSimpsons-l ike
late wife (Marge).life neatly
cartoons.Dweezil Zappa pro-
son— he hasn'tth e concept of
the door before try-
ing to walk in— an dDweezil's dad Frank pro-vided most of Duckman ' smusic. I 'm not much of aFrank Zappa fan, bu t this,plus his testimony beforeTipper Gore's PMRC hear-ings in 1985, seems anappropriate enough legacy.
The writers on Duck-m a n count Moonl ight ingamong their credits. I sup-pose after making CybillShepherd and Bruce W illissound as sophisticated as
Hepburn and Tracy, gettinglaughs out of a cynicaldetective duck was a rela-tive snap. The quirky ani-mation is provided byGabor Csupo, who's alsobehind The S impsons . Ihave a hunch that Duckmanis our generation's Monty
Python. Twenty y ears fromno w they'l l be publishingscripts of the show and sell-ing Duckman videotapes orlaserdiscs or CD-ROMs or
whatever the hell new tech-nology comes along. You
ca n watch an y Duckman
episode a dozen times andstill find something new tolaugh at the 13th time— myhighest compliment.
The Simpsons just con-cluded its sixth season, andwhile I 'm as big a fan asever (I even have Simpsonspersonal checks) I noticed aslight decline in quality lastseason, from an A to maybea B+. I think Matt Green-ing, James Brooks and co.have started to run out of
original ideas for theirnuclear clan. Last seasonHomer became a part-timeKrusty the Klown imper-sonator... which was remi-niscent of the episode w henHomer became the mascotof the Springfield minorleague baseball team.Marge joined th e policeforce... just as B art spent thenight with th e Springfieldcops. Bart won a pet ele-phant who caused havoc...
much as Lisa's pony did afew years earlier. The city
of Springfield faced annihi-lation from a meteor... inmuch the same fashion theyfaced a nuclear meltdowntwo or three years ago.
Bu t when T he Simpsonsclicks, it's still brilliant andpunchy. The episode whereSideshow Bob was paroledan d then ran against MayorQuimby was a devastatingsend-up of the Americanpolitical process. W hereasT he Critic simply didinnocuous Rush-Lim-
baugh-is-fat jokes; T h eSimpsons presented a Lim-baugh caricature entertain-ing an audience of brain-dead listeners, bul ly inggovernment officials an dmasterminding the townRepublicans' attempt toelect Sideshow Bob. Andthe (presumably Democrat-ic) incumbent Quimby wasshown as an adulterousboozer w ith a familiar thickBoston accent. Thank God
they're just cartoons, eh?And the best Simpsons
episode last season was
ambitious fantasy set 2010, wherein a colle
age Lisa gets engaged to aristocratic Brit (playeda nearly unrecognizaMandy Patinkin) who caoff the wedding whenmeets the achingly protariat Simpsons clan. Nonly did this episode getsome sharp social jok
about th e future— asome hilarious predictio
fo r what will become of
! peripheral characters—j re-examined the relatio| ship between Lisa and
members of her famUnderneath the broad co
mentary, the episode wabout something. At considerable best. T
j Simpsons is still the fresh
TV around, and it does
just comment on oworld— it creates its ow
