Topic: Sports Show, Norm Macdonald
Note To Self: Never promise someone you are going to blog about a new show--especially when the person you promised just happens to be a writer for that show and you just friended him on Facebook. Because this is what happens: You post on his wall for everyone to see that you are going to blog about this wonderful new show. So then what you do is watch it again with every intention of making notes of what to comment on in your blog. You end up not making notes because the show is so freaking funny that you forget what you are supposed to be doing, so you watch AGAIN. This process of "Play...stop...rewind" is repeated several times (with a few notes made here and there) until you finally realize that it's 4 a.m., you haven't written a blessed thing, and you have to get up in five hours. Such was the case three days ago. I am finally getting around to writing this blog entry, but I have given up on making notes first because lets face it...if I do that, this blog entry will never get written. So ok...here we go!
The show starts off with an opening joke and then goes to the opening title and theme song. This is a BRILLIANT move because the first thing you see is Norm---sort of like planting a seed in your brain, I guess. I don't know if this is the exact reasoning for it since I wasn't informed, but it sounds logical, so we'll go with that. :)
The very first segment is just like Weekend Update on SNL, only with all sports jokes. Another smart move because it makes the transition from Weekend Update to Sports Show much smoother for those of us who know Norm from SNL since it's very easily recognizable and in our "comfort zone". It's nothing outrageous that is going to make our hearts attack us (Sorry, couldn't resist.) from the shock of something different.
What I liked about Sports Show from the very beginning of the first show was that this show is for anyone, not just sports fans. I know absolutely NOTHING about sports, but I could still understand the jokes. My favorite joke of the night had to be the polar bear video. Every time I see that video, I end up laughing so hard that I am in tears! Honestly, I have never seen anyone do a faster about-face in my life! I also enjoyed the Special Olympics joke. I'm disabled myself, but I also have a sense of humor about it. So I loved that Norm had the guts to do a joke like that. Especially in his first show. I definitely admire the man more now than ever. I just hope at some point, he does some jokes about wheelchair sports. After all, they are sports. Wouldn't leaving out jokes like that be considered a form of discrimination? I'm just saying...(Joke...I'm just trying to prove you can put a spin on anything).
What I have always loved about Norm's sense of humor is that it has a hint of sarcasm. For example, his "What the H" segment on Tiger Woods in this episode. He isn't condoning what Tiger did (the whole infidelity thing). Instead, he's pointing out that we are basically persecuting this man for his actions and making a bigger deal about it than we would the regular man on the street just because Tiger is a celebrity. We have this unrealistic idea of how we think they should and do act in their PRIVATE LIVES, and when they do something wrong, it is magnified 100% just because they are famous. We're basically raking this guy over the coals for being human more than we would someone who isn't famous for doing the exact same thing. Not to mention the fact that a celebs personal life should be none of our business in the first place. Thank you, Norm!
The final segment was called "Garbage Time". I'm still not clear about the title, but it's where Norm crams as many jokes in 90 seconds as humanly possible. And when time runs out on the clock, the rule is he has to stop. I like it!
I definitely give this show a two-thumbs up! I can't wait for the next episode! And I really hope that Don Ohlmeyer is watching and eating his words. Not funny, huh? Yeah, sure...Go Norm!
