Norm McDonald rules the world

I don't care how low-rated it was or how many people just don't "get" Norm MacDonald, but Comedy Central's recent cancellation of "Sports Show with Norm MacDonald" is a horrible move. I have definitive empirical evidence to support my assertion, too: I love the show.

Hey, as far as I'm concerned, that's enough reason to keep it around. I suppose I can kind of understand why Comedy Central would feel otherwise. I guess I can even comprehend why others don't find the show as funny as I do. It's very minimalist, stripped-down comedy a la Norm's "Weekend Update" segments, with everything done pretty much how you would expect Norm MacDonald to do it. The sports angle was just a nice novelty; "Politics Show" would surely have been funny, but it was cool seeing the Norm style used in an area where we more often get people who think they are funny but shouldn't try to do comedy as opposed to people who are actually funny doing legitimate comedy.

I've had a little mini-self-MacDonald renaissance this year, with "Sports Show" (I'm gonna continue to talk about in present tense because it makes me feel better) ruling the cable world, the recent standup special that also aired on Comedy Central scoring big time (how comforting that someone in the crowd can yell out "O.J.!" and Norm just happens to have some new O.J. material), and my finally seeing "Dirty Work," his underappreciated 1998 flick.

I caught it on pay cable, which is a great place to experience it. Sit back, keep expectations low, and just hope for enough entertainment to add a notch to the "Yeah, it's worth it" column of your "Should I keep these premium channels?" chart.

It's easy to dismiss "Dirty Work." It bombed in its original run, it's barely--barely--an hour and 20 minutes long, and it's directed by Bob Saget. But the premise is a good one--loser discovers he's good at getting revenge on people and starts a business to do the same for others--and the bottom line is it's FUNNY.

I could quote lines or cite specific situations, but it's just a solid comedy, and the half-assed nature of the film actually works for it. The main thing you need to know is that throughout the film, Norm MacDonald sort of tries to act, but he also READS ALL HIS LINES LIKE NORM MacDONALD. And that's funny.

So, yeah, I'm disappointed that "Sports Show" may be no more (keep hope alive--couldn't Versus give it a shot?) but maybe I'll scan the listings for "Dirty Work" again. It's not a classic, but it's the kind of thing I could watch more than once. Norm MacDonald still rules the world.