Thank God You're Here!

I watched the NBC premiere of "Thank God You're Here" last night. I thought it was a riot and at the same time... it feels destined for an unjust premature cancellation. I don't know precisely why I say that...maybe it's a groundless premonition on my part (I hope so). Part of it is just due to tricky scheduling. They're filling the Heroes timeslot for just 2 weeks, and come April 23rd, everyone will be so thrilled to have Heroes back-- they'll tune into NBC that Mon @ 9pm for sure but will anybody-- in just 2 weeks time-- have been deeply enough enthralled by TGYH to follow it to Wednesday night? Doubtful. Also it doesn't seem flashy & whorish enough (think: American Idol) to beguile the masses. No product tie-ins? No text message voting? Sounds too pure & simple to me. Don't get me wrong, I adore pure & simple...I just don't think it stands a chance.

I do hope I'm mistaken here and TGYH really takes off. Here's what I liked about it--

*Dave Foley as judge-- No audience voting, no America voting, and no panel of judges (flirt-bickering with each other, each trying to forge his/her unique niche in said panel) I like that. And I like Dave Foley, to boot. He's funny in a very understated way... I never watched him on News Radio but I was on a hell of a Kids on The Hall kick for a while (and he & Bruce McCullough were the 2 best "kids" I always thought)
I'd actually seen Dave earlier in the evening on "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (VERY good sitcom...whereas your average sitcom is dreck) and he did a stellar job with that guest starring gig. I also think he is one of those rare folk who looks better with grey hair.
*Bryan Cranston in episode 1-- All the contenders were funny (in what has to be an incredibly tough scenario) but it was righteous that Cranston won (the highly coveted plastic trophy) . He was kissing and dry humping people left and right and you just gotta salute that kind of all-out commitment.
*Edie McClurg in episode 2-- She was up against Kevin Nealon, MoNique, and Richard Kind. I really thought she should've won... she was surprisingly awesome. And really, looking quite glowy and youthful for a 56 yr old dame. I noticed that David Alan Grier failed to mention "Dance 'Til Dawn" in her introduction...he rattled off a few of her credits...but not the key role of Carol Seaver's mom/ Frasier's wife in that 1988 classic. Shame on you, David Alan Grier or whoever writes your teleprompter schpiel!!!

I won't tell you just who won that episode of TGYH (you know it's not Edie though) so maybe if they run a marathon, your curiosity will compel you to tune in and then you'll get hooked on the show, thus triggering a chain reaction where TGYH amasses a cult following. (yeah, yeah , it's not very likely, I realize this)