Ever since seeing "Man On The Moon" in theaters when I was sixteen, I have been eager to see an episode of the show "Fridays."
By chance, the episode I saw was Andy Kauffman's infamous visit. It's weird to watch since I know it was in fact staged, and knew that before watching it. IT was still appealing though.
Interestingly, this show tells me the story of one hell of rough back-fire. You see, when ABC originally produced "Fridays" in 1980, they thought this show was the answer to "Saturday Night Live." Now first of all. But worst yet, two of the stars on it were Michael Richards and Larry David. Both stars who would go on to work together on "Seinfeld." This show was how they originally met. So in attempt to compete with NBC, ABC attempted a similar format and not only failed at competing, but they contributed what would lead to the making of Seinfeld; another NBC hit.
Having Watched Fridays, here is my observastion on it. It's funny at times. It's not an ingenious piece of writing and was pretty much what I was expecting. It is actually more like SNL than I was expecting though. The format is almost identical. The special guest star leads off the show to make a few cracks, and then the first skit is underway shortly after. Halfway through the show, a band performs. A few more skits take place before the band comes back. Also in the middle, there is a weekend update. It's called the Friday edition. Like the SNL weekend update, it has a smart allecky commentator who makes a bunch of scripted quirks with some shots for gags too. It's fairly obvious that the writers are of this show are all left-wing, and that at least a couple of the writers are Jewish. The highlight skit I saw was the Social Majority Show. The song was absolutely hilarious. The reverend was mildly comical at moments, but the show as a whole was lacking something. I guess it's just too much of an SNL wanna-be, and not original enough for my taste.
By chance, the episode I saw was Andy Kauffman's infamous visit. It's weird to watch since I know it was in fact staged, and knew that before watching it. IT was still appealing though.
Interestingly, this show tells me the story of one hell of rough back-fire. You see, when ABC originally produced "Fridays" in 1980, they thought this show was the answer to "Saturday Night Live." Now first of all. But worst yet, two of the stars on it were Michael Richards and Larry David. Both stars who would go on to work together on "Seinfeld." This show was how they originally met. So in attempt to compete with NBC, ABC attempted a similar format and not only failed at competing, but they contributed what would lead to the making of Seinfeld; another NBC hit.
Having Watched Fridays, here is my observastion on it. It's funny at times. It's not an ingenious piece of writing and was pretty much what I was expecting. It is actually more like SNL than I was expecting though. The format is almost identical. The special guest star leads off the show to make a few cracks, and then the first skit is underway shortly after. Halfway through the show, a band performs. A few more skits take place before the band comes back. Also in the middle, there is a weekend update. It's called the Friday edition. Like the SNL weekend update, it has a smart allecky commentator who makes a bunch of scripted quirks with some shots for gags too. It's fairly obvious that the writers are of this show are all left-wing, and that at least a couple of the writers are Jewish. The highlight skit I saw was the Social Majority Show. The song was absolutely hilarious. The reverend was mildly comical at moments, but the show as a whole was lacking something. I guess it's just too much of an SNL wanna-be, and not original enough for my taste.