You have to remember 1977 to rate this show correctly. In 1977 the Variety show was dead on arrival almost all of the time, regardless who was doing it. In 1974, Flip Wilson had been canceled. Sonny & Cher had been canceled together and apart.
When I discovered this, I was pleasantly surprised. Is this the last show after Red Skelton to do Pantomime? I believe it was. Was this the last one to do good sketch comedy? The creativity on this show, creepy at parts, is at a very high level. Pryor as one of the shows writers kept the writing here at a very high level. Often it is too intelligent for the audience. The scary part is today's dumbed down audience is way behind this material.
Pryors Comedy Blackouts at the end of some episodes are great. This has Robin Williams before he was Mork, and Marsha Warfield before Night Court. NBC not only missed here, but could have developed a sitcom for Pyor that might have worked.
The Star Wars bar skit is incredible. The Improv sequence on this pre- dates Whose Line Is It Anyways? Did the creator of that see this skit? Robin Williams is very funny here though a bit constrained by Pryors material though in the Pryor Roast skit he is very funny and adds to this show no matter where he gets put it.
Now that Pryor and Williams have left this world, this short lived series is one of the few examples of them working together some. I wish there could have been more.
I rate this highly because, for the wrong place at the wrong time, this one has the it factor. Fun is how it was intended and variety is what it delivers.
When I discovered this, I was pleasantly surprised. Is this the last show after Red Skelton to do Pantomime? I believe it was. Was this the last one to do good sketch comedy? The creativity on this show, creepy at parts, is at a very high level. Pryor as one of the shows writers kept the writing here at a very high level. Often it is too intelligent for the audience. The scary part is today's dumbed down audience is way behind this material.
Pryors Comedy Blackouts at the end of some episodes are great. This has Robin Williams before he was Mork, and Marsha Warfield before Night Court. NBC not only missed here, but could have developed a sitcom for Pyor that might have worked.
The Star Wars bar skit is incredible. The Improv sequence on this pre- dates Whose Line Is It Anyways? Did the creator of that see this skit? Robin Williams is very funny here though a bit constrained by Pryors material though in the Pryor Roast skit he is very funny and adds to this show no matter where he gets put it.
Now that Pryor and Williams have left this world, this short lived series is one of the few examples of them working together some. I wish there could have been more.
I rate this highly because, for the wrong place at the wrong time, this one has the it factor. Fun is how it was intended and variety is what it delivers.