"Buffalo Bill"

-created by bernie brillstein, tom patchett, and jay tarses
1983-1984
One might wonder why i'm writing this review, as this is a sitcom i urge absolutely no one to watch. My reason is twofold: genuine fascination, and to refute those who call this a genius, cult-worthy effort bungled by the studio. It isn't. Not even a tiny bit. It's so uneven and unexcellent that the studio actually showed more support than was warranted. Yet it was fascinating...some call it a proto-LARRY SANDERS SHOW, and in the sense that it tried to tell much more truth than TV usually offered, the comparison is valid. But at its very best, it's barely mildly funny, and at its average it may strike you as the most reprehensible show ever. It's simply the story of a thoroughly putrid human being, with no redeeming value. But that IS the value, say the advocates? Maybe. But what cannot be argued is that it utterly failed to find its voice. Its creators brought a fine pedigree - brillstein (IT'S GARRY SHANDLING'S SHOW, NEWSRADIO), patchett (THE BOB NEWHART SHOW, ALF), and tarses (THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW, THE TONY RANDALL SHOW) were obviously shooting for fearless and ground-breaking. They devoted episodes to abortion, broken families, and beauty pageants, and those moments almost worked, but...
BUFFALO BILL is the story of bill bittinger (dabney coleman - TOOTSIE, 9 TO 5), small-city talk show host who knows he'll never be anything more. He's also an egotistical, racist, misogynist bully. The staff of the show all kowtow to bill, which is understandable. What's not understandable is the genuine devotion he's shown. It's the fatal flaw - the writers succeed in making him so abhorrent, that the support of the good people around him just tosses everything into a state of constant irreconcilability. And it's frustrating to watch the show flail - most of the episodes are just dull nothingness, but they also flirted with whimsy, and trippy non-realism...perhaps the solution would have been to show bill continually getting some sort of comeuppance. The handful of times they went in that direction, are the best of the batch.
The primary reason the show is fascinating however, is the cast. In TV terms, it's a murderer's row - every single regular either had a substantial film career, or starring role on another series. That's a distinction i'm not sure any other show has ever been able to claim. Joanna cassidy (BLADE RUNNER, WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT), max wright (ALF, NORM), john fiedler (12 ANGRY MEN, WINNIE THE POOH), meshach taylor (DESIGNING WOMEN, DAVE'S WORLD), charles robinson (NIGHT COURT, PEE-WEE'S BIG HOLIDAY), and geena davis (THELMA & LOUISE, COMMANDER IN CHIEF), who also wrote the beauty pageant episode...the potential was clearly bursting. There's also an uncredited, unforgettable guest appearance by jim carrey.