Can a Wayans Still Be Funny?

There are many signs that I am getting old. For starters I actually make an effort to watch the last segment of "60 Minutes" so I can catch Andy Rooney. No joke! That old fucker sees the world in so many humerous ways. In addition to that fact I know I am getting old because I can clearly remember when the Wayans family was viewed as cutting edge.

Long before LITTLE MAN, WHITE CHICKS, and "My Wife and Kids" there was "In Living Color." When I was a young buck you just weren't cool unless you knew everything that went on during the previous night's episode of "In Living Color." Well now the most talented (I say that only because of THE LAST BOY SCOUT) member of the family, Damon, is shedding his fatherly image to start up "The Underground," a sketch comedy series premiering Thursday at 10 on Showtime.

I suppose this is Wayans' and Showtime's attempt at their own "Chappelle's Show" empire. I'm very skeptical as to if Wayans still has any creative juices in his tank. Good or bad this series is evidence that Showtime has no clue how to promote their original programming. The only place I've seen ads for "The Underground" is on Showtime. HBO always goes out of their way to make sure their original programming gets hyped all over the media. It's no wonder that Showtime's biggest show ever was "Queer as Folk." But that was about dudes who hump each other. Of course everyone would watch that. It involved actual gay sex. Between men! Wait until Andy Rooney hears about that!

I am aware that the photo up top shows Jim Carrey as Fire Marshal Bill. I was looking for a shot of Wayans from "In Living Color" but I came across that one and liked it better. Who knew there were "In Living Color" trading cards? I need to grab myself a Tommy Davidson rookie card ASAP.

3 comments:

Fazer said...

I was always fascinated by the careers of Damon and Keenen Ivory Wayans (KIW). Damon left "in living color" first, to do "Blankman" i believe, and what a smart decision that was. YEARS later the guy has a mini-hit with my wife and kids. I remember when Hollywood was chomping at the bit to get this guy.

Then KIW left because Fox was getting too pushy or something, and he went onto make "The Glimmer Man" (one of many Segal teams with a black dude movies) and "Most Wanted" two wildly different movies. Then he got that late night talk show, which was crap.

I still anxiously await the "Homey the Clown" movie that is ACTUALLY being developed. that is nota joke, Fazer don't play dat.

Chris said...

It seems like the "Homey the Clown" movie has been rumored forever. I don't see it happening, and if it does I don't see how that could work as a movie. How many times can you hit kids over the head? Now a Handi-Man movie would be gold.

What I'd like to see is getting the "In Living Color" cast back together for a new film. Nothing related to the show, just a movie that could feature Keenan, Damon, David Alan Grier, Jamie Foxx, and Carrey. Obviously there is a better chance of it raining Pepsi tomorrow but I still think it would be cool.

Chris said...

With the exception of one sketch this new show was brutal.