"Local Heroes," the awful, new sitcom that debuts Sunday at 8:30 p.m. on Fox/Ch. 13, contains one of the stranger references to Utah to come along for a while.
The show, about four twentysomething losers who want to recapture their high school glory days, revolves around a plot to steal a rival high school's mascot - a goat. But Eddie talks his friends out of it, saying it's too immature.Later, we learn that Eddie's late father "only had two dreams in his life - a finished basement and to float in the Great Salt Lake."
Strange enough.
But soon after, Eddie - not wanting to end up like his father - changes his mind and calls his friend, Stosh, on the phone.
"Get the guys and a six pack. We're gonna steal a goat and float in the Great Salt Lake," he says.
And a short pause later, Eddie adds, "Look, don't be an idiot. You can still be a Catholic, all right?"
Very, very strange.
"THE SHOW": Fox's unimaginatively titled new sitcom "The Show" (Sunday, 7:30 p.m., Ch. 13) is a pretty good idea that's pretty poorly executed.
The premise is a mixture of show biz and race relations. Tom Delaney (Sam Sedar) quits his job as a writer for Jay Leno to become head writer for Wilson Lee (Mystro Clark), an edgy, hip black comic who has his own variety show.
Even Tom's wife can't believe it. "You're that guy on `Def Jam' that they find in the audience and make fun of," she says.
From there, it's fish-out-of-water stuff when Tom discovers that, with the exception of his Jewish friend, he's the white guy in the midst of an all-black staff and crew with names like Big Chewy and Chocolate Walt.
It's a situation ripe for comedy, which makes the fact that this isn't a particularly funny show all the more disappointing. Oh, there are a few laughs, but mostly it's full of people yelling and screaming - and replete with racial stereotypes.
Nice try, but unless the writing begins to show more originality and effort than went into naming "The Show," this one isn't worth your time.