I’ve got a new contender for absolutely worst situation comedy ever.
It’s a perfect example about how the BBC does television better than anyone else, and it’s also about how when they know they’re wrong, they step back right away.
In 1990, the Beeb made eight episodes of a show designed to spoof American television sitcomes from the 1950s.
Eight episodes might not sound like much, but only the pilot was ever aired.
I can just hear casting directors now. “So, Mr. McCaul, tell us a role you played that was particularly interesting.”
And Neil McCaul would reply, “I played the lead in a sitcom called ‘Heil Honey I’m Home.'”
“You played …”
“A funny version of Adolf Hitler.”
You might think that one would have been a career killer, but Internet Movie Database shows McCaul with 122 credits, mostly in television and video games. He was actually in “Gnomeo and Juliet,” a 2011 production that included James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Maggie Smith, Michael Caine, Patrick Stewart and Dolly Parton among others.
So yes, there is life after Adolf.
We actually had a similar show in 2001, created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone of “South Park” fame. “That’s My Bush!” also consisted of eight episodes, although all eight actually aired on Comedy Central in 2001. It was cancelled because after the 9/11 attacks, people were no longer allowed to make fun of George Dubya.
Timothy Bottoms, best known for “The Last Picture Show” and “The Paper Chase” in the early 1970s, played Dubya and seemed to have a lot of fun doing it.
The show is about as lowbrow as it gets, and it’s available on streaming services or as a DVD set. If you want a few laughs, check it out. More than actually being a show about Bush, it’s a spoof of sitcoms with Dubya having a goofy neighbor who is always dropping in and a sassy maid who’s always putting Dubya in his place.
Better than Adolf and Eva with a Jewish family living next door.