Off the Wall

NBC Michael Richards evokes memories of
Seinfeld’s Kramer in his new sitcom “The Michael
Richards Show” . The program leads NBC’s Tuesday prime
time lineup and blends comedy with crime for laughs.

By Chris Moriates
Daily Bruin Contributor

A show about nothing was the brilliant idea that propelled
“Seinfeld” through the nineties. Now the over-the-top
comedian behind the quirky Kramer is back on prime time with a
series described by the show’s writers as “Kramer meets
Matlock.”

“The Michael Richards Show” kicks off NBC’s
new Tuesday night prime time lineup with a slot at 8.

The show features Vic Cardozza (Richards) as a private
investigator, with the humor of the series coming from Vic’s
unorthodox approach to solving crimes. Unlike most detectives who
try to blend with their surroundings, Vic always seems to get
noticed, often bumping into the wrong people. Vic always gets the
job done, though, despite his eccentric behavior.

“It’s like Magnum P.I., but funny, and all the
characters are somewhat dysfunctional,” said A.J. Poulin, a
writer for the new series, as he lounged in his Studio City
office.

Earlier, Poulin was playing a card game on his computer; yeah,
life as a TV writer can be quite rough, but its not all fun and
digital card games.

NBC (Left to right) Michael Richards,
Billy Cobbs, Amy Farrington,
Tim Meadows and William Devane
star in "The Michael Richards Show." Sitting in a barren room with
a broken thermostat, Poulin and partner Ron Corcillo attempted to
outdo each other’s jokes. Dressed casually in sweaters, they
explained where their off-the-wall ideas come from for programs
such as “The Michael Richards Show.”

“A lot of times it’s based on stuff that has
happened to us or our friends,” Corcillo said.

According to the writers, their job is to create and embellish
an idea, taking it to the extreme. For example, Corcillo’s
girlfriend received lousy service from the Better Business Bureau
when she was attempting to file a complaint. In the hands of
Corcillo and Poulin, this ironic situation became a punch line
integrated into the show.

The process from the writers’ desk to the TV screen is not
set in stone at the show’s office, which houses the writers
and executive producers, as well as Richard’s own office.

“It’s a little random around here,” said
Poulin. “It’s not like IBM; it’s not suits and
whatever. (The executive producers) are very open to what the show
can be.”

These executive producers created the idea for the series and
wrote a pilot script, which served to put all the characters in
place.

As far as the actual writing of the scripts for the weekly show
is concerned, that’s up to the creative pens of the
writers.

What exactly is the real-life office environment like that gives
birth to the fictional workplace sitcom?

“It’s a really fun atmosphere,” said Associate
Producer Vicky Perez, whose responsibility is to take care of all
the operational production of the show. “We laugh a
lot.”

According to Perez, an idea becomes an outline and then a draft
script. Eventually the entire writing staff collaborates to add
different lines or jokes.

“It’s very much a group process,” said
Corcillo. “It goes through a lot of people’s hands
before it gets on the air.”

When a script is rewritten and ready to go there will be a
table-read of the script with all of the actors and producers,
including executives of the network and production company.

Corcillo said that one of the perks of beginning a series is
that the writer is able to establish the character personalities
and settings through the early scripts.

So far eight episodes have been completely written and filmed,
about half of which have aired.

“Vic is like Kramer with a real job,” said
Corcillo.

That is, if you consider dressing up like a senior citizen and
running shoddy investigations a real job.

With Vic’s overblown eccentricities, it is difficult to
see the distinctive lanky character without automatically thinking
Kramer.

“There are definite Kramerisms in his character, but
he’s a little more logical than Kramer, and he’s not
quite as out there,” Poulin said. “We think that is
what America is looking for.”

Considering that the series premiered about a month ago,
it’s too early to determine whether Poulin is right. The
show, however, is getting a lot of support from NBC, and according
to the writers the ratings have been good so far.

“NBC is giving us a lot of support and publicity,”
said Corcillo. “They really want to see this show make
it.”

The show has a slot leading into NBC prime time giants
“3rd Rock from the Sun” and “Frasier,” and
coupled with Richards’ star status, the show has the tools to
be a success.

Although the writers are behind the plots and laughs, their role
does not undermine that of Richards’ own comedy.

Richards is one of the executive producers of the show and he
overlooks everything, providing his own input where necessary.

“If a scene isn’t getting a laugh, Richard’s
will just come up with something on the spot and the audience will
just crack up,” Poulin said.

Corcillo added, “Yeah, it makes us writers look
good.”

TELEVISION: “The Michael Richards
Show” airs Tuesdays on NBC at 8 p.m.