"Jim Gaffigan" has already been on this list of The 400 Most Notable Television Shows Set in New York City. He was an Indiana weatherman on a New York based morning show with Christine Baranski as his producer, Sara Gilbert as her assistant and Rocky Carroll standing in for Bryant Gumbel on "Welcome to New York," back at 389.
We're still dealing with "Jim Gaffigan," only one that's a whole lot more seasoned, this time around.
We've turned the clock forward fifteen years from that initial sitcom, where, back in Y2K, fresh faced Jim was basically doing the David Letterman story, despite the fact that he too was from Indiana and was a stand-up comic, just like Dave. Jim was just too green to insert his influences and ideas that might have helped "Welcome to New York" work better, be more about him and be more funny.
This time, we're letting Gaffigan be Gaffigan, as this sitcom was completely based on his own real life circumstances: his stand up routines were the basis of the plots of these episodes, and his homelife actually paralleled the genuine article, as Jim and his wife Jeannie (played here by Ashley Williams) really did have five kids and actually lived in a two bedroom apartment in Manhattan as they were getting started.
With his real life wife as a consultant (she was originally going to play herself in the series, but bowed out at the last moment which allowed Williams to take the part), they told the factual tales of having this gaggle of kids in a too small for their family apartment and how they attempted to make things work, ever so comedically.
Helping out was Jim's best friend, adviser and fellow comic Dave Marks, played by Adam Goldberg... and Jeannie's former beau, who eventually realized that he was gay, Daniel Benjamin, played by Michael Ian Black. And, of course, the five reasons why this all got so crazy, the five kids.
Also, spoiler alert: turning up along the way are a variety of real-life comics and TV personalities. I won't go into the details, in case you want to view the program yourself, but there is a running gag with a particular personality that is always pretty amusing.
I don't mean to call in Dr. Freud, but Mr. Gaffigan is seen in a lot of scenes, eating something. Oral fixative elements aside, it helps explain why the Jim Gaffigan of this show is putting on the L. Bs, compared to the earlier Gaffigan. They are almost unrecognizable! But they do share that lilting voice, that wry approach to life and neither "Jim Gaffigan" wanted to deal with problems, even though problems are all they get.
New York played a part because of the comedy scene, the TV scene, and the Real Estate Market, where you're supposed to have at least two bedrooms for the kids, one for the boys and one for the girls: even pseudo-architect Mike Brady knew that! I wonder if this "Jim Gaffigan" is related to, or the same guy as that earlier "Jim Gaffigan" and how that might have informed this series. I'd like to believe there was a little truth to that possibility.
The show was made all the more absurd because of the five actual kids they have and the maneuvering and compromises the Gaffigans made throughout. Is it a cautionary tale or a "how to" program? Maybe it's both? Either way, it's a whole lot funnier than "Welcome to New York" was, and just that much more worth viewing.
We're still dealing with "Jim Gaffigan," only one that's a whole lot more seasoned, this time around.
We've turned the clock forward fifteen years from that initial sitcom, where, back in Y2K, fresh faced Jim was basically doing the David Letterman story, despite the fact that he too was from Indiana and was a stand-up comic, just like Dave. Jim was just too green to insert his influences and ideas that might have helped "Welcome to New York" work better, be more about him and be more funny.
This time, we're letting Gaffigan be Gaffigan, as this sitcom was completely based on his own real life circumstances: his stand up routines were the basis of the plots of these episodes, and his homelife actually paralleled the genuine article, as Jim and his wife Jeannie (played here by Ashley Williams) really did have five kids and actually lived in a two bedroom apartment in Manhattan as they were getting started.
With his real life wife as a consultant (she was originally going to play herself in the series, but bowed out at the last moment which allowed Williams to take the part), they told the factual tales of having this gaggle of kids in a too small for their family apartment and how they attempted to make things work, ever so comedically.
Helping out was Jim's best friend, adviser and fellow comic Dave Marks, played by Adam Goldberg... and Jeannie's former beau, who eventually realized that he was gay, Daniel Benjamin, played by Michael Ian Black. And, of course, the five reasons why this all got so crazy, the five kids.
Also, spoiler alert: turning up along the way are a variety of real-life comics and TV personalities. I won't go into the details, in case you want to view the program yourself, but there is a running gag with a particular personality that is always pretty amusing.
I don't mean to call in Dr. Freud, but Mr. Gaffigan is seen in a lot of scenes, eating something. Oral fixative elements aside, it helps explain why the Jim Gaffigan of this show is putting on the L. Bs, compared to the earlier Gaffigan. They are almost unrecognizable! But they do share that lilting voice, that wry approach to life and neither "Jim Gaffigan" wanted to deal with problems, even though problems are all they get.
New York played a part because of the comedy scene, the TV scene, and the Real Estate Market, where you're supposed to have at least two bedrooms for the kids, one for the boys and one for the girls: even pseudo-architect Mike Brady knew that! I wonder if this "Jim Gaffigan" is related to, or the same guy as that earlier "Jim Gaffigan" and how that might have informed this series. I'd like to believe there was a little truth to that possibility.
The show was made all the more absurd because of the five actual kids they have and the maneuvering and compromises the Gaffigans made throughout. Is it a cautionary tale or a "how to" program? Maybe it's both? Either way, it's a whole lot funnier than "Welcome to New York" was, and just that much more worth viewing.