With "On the Air," David Lynch and Mark Frost have done for situation comedy what "Twin Peaks" did for television drama.
They've made it annoying, often stupid and, above all, weird.As a matter of fact, "On the Air" is the weirdest show to hit broadcast television since "Twin Peaks" was canceled.
The premise isn't that outrageous. "Air" is set behind the scenes of a fictional 1950s variety program, "The Lester Guy Show."
But, as executed, this is an extremely bizarre half hour that's often dull when it's not grating.
Lester (Ian Buchanan), is a prissy, no-talent fading movie star who's attempting to revive his career. He's thoroughly unlikable.
So is the network president (Miguel Ferrer), a tyrant with a heart of . . . of stone.
David Lander accomplishes a nearly impossible task. His new character, Vladja Gochktch, is even more annoying than Squiggy, the character he used to play on "Laverne & Shirley."
Gochktch has an unidentifiable and indecipherable accent, requiring him to be accompanied by an interpreter. It isn't a very funny gag to begin with, and with repetition becomes like the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard.
Throw in a blond bimbo who's the ultimate airhead, a mentally unstable producer and a technical man who apparently suffers from a form of autism, and this group makes the denizens of "Twin Peaks" seem downright average.
Not that "On the Air" is completely terrible. (Just mostly.) There is some inspired slapstick at the end of Saturday's premiere - the sort of slapstick the Three Stooges might have envied.
What happens is that "The Lester Guy Show's" live premiere turns to total disaster and mayhem, and thus becomes a hit.
There's very little chance of the same thing happening to "On the Air." Most of the audience probably won't stick around for those final moments, and they're not enough of a payoff to redeem the half hour.
Actually, Lynch and Frost seem to have speeded up their television timetable. "Twin Peaks" started off as a refreshing, albeit weird, show that gradually declined into a strange mess.
"On the Air" starts off as a strange mess, so the thought of where it could go from here is truly frightening.