The Norm Show

Its pretty middle of the road as sitcoms go. I bought the DVD a few years back (2014, according to Amazon), and I thought it held up reasonably well. Its not gut bustingly funny like Seinfeld or Newsradio, but its also not going to make you groan in pain like Superstore or Abby's. Max Wright, Laurie Metcalf, and Norm are all fucking hilarious, even if the material is less than stellar.
 
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Quarterback Rex Grossman said:
Didn't click but I'm guessing it's the one set in the city. He did another series where he moved to the country and lived in a small town. Amazing he had two series so close to each other.
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Yeah it's set in NYC he's a former hockey player turned social worker as punishment for tax evasion. It's what you would expect for a sitcom. But Norm was so dedicated to the job that he developed a gambling addiction in preparation for the show! Wow, what a method actor this guy was, eh?

Maniacal Foreigner said:
I mean, he was slowly dying of leukemia, can hardly blame him.
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He went thru stomach cancer in the 80s, then leukemia, he had some terrible luck, reminds me of that horrible tragedy...

oh no its pipkun said:
the first two seasons are great, laurie metcalf is great. kinda peters out in the third one.
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Like I said earlier some moments I am expecting to be very fucking annoyed with her but it strangely works out and makes for an entertaining and funny performance. It's a tightrope performance and she did quite well.

Stab You in the Back said:
Its pretty middle of the road as sitcoms go. I bought the DVD a few years back (2014, according to Amazon), and I thought it held up reasonably well. Its not gut bustingly funny like Seinfeld or Newsradio, but its also not going to make you groan in pain like Superstore or Abby's. Max Wright, Laurie Metcalf, and Norm are all fucking hilarious, even if the material is less than stellar.
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Oh yeah, should probably watch Seinfeld next. If it's as funny as you say.
 
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liam dees said:
Yeah it's set in NYC he's a former hockey player turned social worker as punishment for tax evasion. It's what you would expect for a sitcom. But Norm was so dedicated to the job that he developed a gambling addiction in preparation for the show! Wow, what a method actor this guy was, eh?


He went thru stomach cancer in the 80s, then leukemia, he had some terrible luck, reminds me of that horrible tragedy...


Like I said earlier some moments I am expecting to be very fucking annoyed with her but it strangely works out and makes for an entertaining and funny performance. It's a tightrope performance and she did quite well.


Oh yeah, should probably watch Seinfeld next. If it's as funny as you say.
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seinfeld is great.
 
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As much as I love Norm, a prime time network sitcom just isn't the best medium for him. He's being leashed to an extent that would make Byron Allen blush.

His Sports Show on Comedy Central was essentially a 22-minute Weekend Update segment and worked much better than either of his sitcoms. Unfortunately, I think the the title alienated many would-be viewers, and the show died in its first season. I remember Howard Stern asking Norm whether viewers unfamiliar with sports could enjoy the show, and replied with something like "Yeah, man. Everyone will love this show. Broads, fags... you name it!"
PFM said:
Norm Macdonald Live had an amazing run, his Mike Tyson interview was one of my favorites.. When he got a deal with Netflix it wasn't nearly as good, and I think he had to take down his Youtube show as part of the deal.
I saw him in 2017 and while hilarious, he seemed to be fucked up, probably on benzos :(
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Norm Macdonald Live was some of his finest work. While most of it has been pulled from YouTube, the entire series can still be found on archive.org.
 
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I had no idea of who Norm Macdonald was when news of his passing spread. When I checked up on him, I thought I did remember him from some movies I'd watched when I was a boy/teenager.

Since then, I've watched much of Norm's material, and have gotten what I believe to be some understanding of the man himself.

All in all, Norm is one of very, very few people whom I actually look up to. His ability to be seemingly as cheerful as ever in face of his ever-worsening cancer, keep his wits as sharp as always and to keep it together in a world full of postmodernist insanity which I believe he despised, is definitely something to admire.
 
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If you haven't read Norm's memoir, titled "Based on a True Story", it's a good read and gives some genuine insights into his career and life struggles. While some parts are humorous and ironic and overtly self deprecating, much of it is very sincerely written and gives you an idea of what he was like off camera.
 
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millais said:
If you haven't read Norm's memoir, titled "Based on a True Story", it's a good read and gives some genuine insights into his career and life struggles. While some parts are humorous and ironic and overtly self deprecating, much of it is very sincerely written and gives you an idea of what he was like off camera.
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I have zoned out listening to the audio book while going to sleep so i remember just bits of it and its a blast, but is there any reason more than being funny that the book got so much stuff about Adam Eget? I know they used to do that podcast together but i woke up from time to time and he was going on and on about "Oh, i wonder what poor Adam Eget would think!" and stuff... I have a hard time keeping myself awake for long listening to books, no matter how hilarious they are.
 
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millais said:
If you haven't read Norm's memoir, titled "Based on a True Story", it's a good read and gives some genuine insights into his career and life struggles. While some parts are humorous and ironic and overtly self deprecating, much of it is very sincerely written and gives you an idea of what he was like off camera.
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I have the eBook uisng legal means. Or so the Germans would have us believe.

Vulpes Mulpes said:
I had no idea of who Norm Macdonald was when news of his passing spread. When I checked up on him, I thought I did remember him from some movies I'd watched when I was a boy/teenager.

Since then, I've watched much of Norm's material, and have gotten what I believe to be some understanding of the man himself.

All in all, Norm is one of very, very few people whom I actually look up to. His ability to be seemingly as cheerful as ever in face of his ever-worsening cancer, keep his wits as sharp as always and to keep it together in a world full of postmodernist insanity which I believe he despised, is definitely something to admire.
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Good writeup. I agree with what you said. To keep it on topic though, what are your thoughts of the show?
 
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liam dees said:
Good writeup. I agree with what you said. To keep it on topic though, what are your thoughts of the show?
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I love it!

Norm is a really curious kind of actor. You can tell he's not a "professional" actor, yet he still makes it work.
He really has this unique "Norm"charm aura around him that just makes him so lovable.

I think that's the core at Norm's comedy. I believe that many of his jokes are honestly quite bad, but precisely because of Norm's delivery, he not only makes them work, but makes them shine. I think someone on a forum once said that "Norm is a master of his craft: he can take a joke and beat it to death, and then continue beating it like beating a dead horse. Then, he manages to beat the horse so much that it springs back to life." (I'm paraphrasing). This "snarky but loveable" aura permeates the show.
 
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Vulpes Mulpes said:
I love it!

Norm is a really unique kind of actor. You can tell he's not a "professional" actor, yet he still makes it work.
He really has this unique "Norm"charm aura around him that just makes him so lovable.

I think that's the core at Norm's comedy. I believe that many of his jokes are honestly quite bad, but precisely because of Norm's delivery, he not only makes them work, but makes them shine. I think someone on a forum once said that "Norm is a master of his craft: he can take a joke and beat it to death, and then continue beating it like beating a dead horse. Then, he manages to beat the horse so much that it springs back to life." (I'm paraphrasing). This "snarky but loveable" aura permeates the show.
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My current favourite skit I have seen of him is Cobras and Panthers.

He is the bedrock of this skit, through and through.
 
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A Norm Fan Update: Didn't watch more Norm Show, but watched half of Nothing Special, a comedy special he filmed in his room before surgery. It was released in 2022 posthumously.

This special is hilarious and haunting, to put it simply. The lighting of his face cast one of his eyes in shadow which I thought even as an unintentional effect was quite symbolic of the pain Norm must have been going through at the time. Unlike the other special I listened to (as an album), 2011's Me Doing Standup, there is no laugh track. Just his voice in the video, and mine in the living room.

It felt really personal, which to be fair is how a lot of his material operates, by reaching a level of intimacy with the audience that left them simultaneously in discomfort and warmth. But more importantly, the barrier of the stage was gone, and I was listening to a friend I never had cheer me up one last time. That experience was really precious and if you haven't seen it, I can't bear to spoil the jokes in the special. Watch and laugh for yourself.
 
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