The new CBS sitcom "Yes, Dear" has a very, very funny sight gag near the end of its pilot episode. I won't give it away, but it involves videotape of a baby's first steps, and it is indeed laugh-out-loud funny.
The bit was the brainchild of executive producer Greg Garcia, and, initially, neither he nor his partner, executive producer Alan Kirschenbaum, realized how well it would work.
"I think we were just talking about the story, and we were in a meeting and it just turned into that," Garcia said. "I don't think we knew how funny it would be until we actually saw the footage and that's when I realized this was going to be a very big laugh."
"I remember when they showed the footage the first time to the cast and the crew on the set," Kirschenbaum said. "They were laughing and laughing. And they knew what was coming. They knew what the joke was. And the laugh was long and I thought, 'Wow! This is the joke that could get us on the air!' "
As a matter of fact, that one bit may have had a lot to do with the show being on CBS's fall schedule. (It premieres Monday at 7:30 p.m. on Ch. 2.)
"I mean, they shot, I think, a dozen pilots, of which four got orders," Kirschenbaum said. "And I think that that joke was something that stayed very clearly in everybody's minds throughout all of this."
"Didn't hurt us," Garcia understated.
There's just one problem, however. That one sight gag is the only funny thing in the first episode. The rest of the "Yes, Dear" pilot is formulaic, tired and completely unfunny.
Anthony Clark stars as Greg, a yuppie-ish first-time father who is almost as uptight about becoming a parent as is his wife, Kim (Jean Louisa Kelly). At the other end of the parenting spectrum is his brother-in-law, Jimmy (Mike O'Malley). He and his wife, Christine (Liza Snyder), are so laid-back with their two young kids that the youngsters pretty much run wild.
With the exception of that one moment, "Yes, Dear" might have been constructed out of lame bits of old sitcoms. Old, unsuccessful sitcoms at that.
Apparently, that sight gag blinded CBS programmers to the rest of the program.
Still, there is that one laugh. Which is more than some alleged comedies manage. And it got a big reaction when it was played for advertisers at the network's annual "upfront" presentations back in May.
"When they showed it at the upfronts in Carnegie Hall, it got a pretty loud laugh," Kirschenbaum said. "And Carnegie Hall — the acoustics are such that when it gets a laugh like that, it sounds like thunder."
At least he'll have that memory when the show gets canceled — which shouldn't take long.