A Surprisingly Good Release of a Surprisingly Good Show...
Carl Malmstrom | Monument, CO USA | 06/08/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
""Primetime Glick" has got to be one of the stranger spin-off ideas in television history: a character rescued from the short-lived "Martin Short Show" gets a late-night-style interview show on Comedy Central and makes it big. In it, Martin Short plays the title character, an overweight, hyperactive, half-fawning, half-obtuse interviewer that sits down with one or two of Hollywood's biggest comedic talents every week for interviews that are played as real - as long as the interviewees can keep from laughing.In this collection, we get five episodes from the first season (2001) of "Primetime Glick" which actually amounts to half the season. Why they couldn't just give us the first five episodes of the season instead is beyond me - maybe they're using the release to gauge consumer interest. Anyway, along with four really funny episodes featuring Bill Maher, Steve Martin, Dennis Miller, Jerry Seinfeld, Janeane Garofalo, basketball star John Salley, Conan O'Brien, Eugene Levy - and a surprisingly bad episode featuring Kathy Lee Gifford and Darrell Hammond doing his "SNL" Dick Cheney - the disc also includes added material from the Seinfeld, Martin, Gifford, O'Brien and Garofalo interviews (in some cases longer and funnier than the stuff that was put in the episode) and a few other goodies from Comedy Central - a "Glick" segment featuring Julia-Louis Dreyfus, a "South Park" segment and a "Crank Yankers" segment.In all, this show has been a pleasant surprise treat for me, and I was pleased at how good the DVD was given the rather low price. I hope that Comedy Central will get around to releasing full seasons at some point, but until they do, this is a surprisingly good "Best of" collection."
Short is finally Funny
Kris | Palm Bay, FL United States | 05/01/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I had always found Martin Short's over-expressive antics and routine comedies rather annoying and far from humorous. When Primetime Glick first came on Comedy Central, I had no desire to watch it. But then I kept seeing commercials where Glick (Short in a hideous fat suit) ripped into real celebrities during interviews. The clips were hilarious and I found myself tuning in.
How glad I was when I did.
Primetime Glick makes constant fun of Hollywood and the simple-minded morons who worship everything Hollywood does. The entire Entertainment industry is shredded by this mock talk show, and Short, as Glick, is the wonderfully obnoxious center of it all.
The interviews are the best part of this underrated show, where huge stars get insulted, interupted and even assulted by Glick who half the time doesn't know who the guest is nor does he care about them.
It's as if Glick speaks for the cynical at-home-viewer who always rolls their eyes in disgust when someone like Julia Roberst comes on TV and starts babbling about her latest movie. Glick simultaniously makes fun of Hollywood phonies (himself being one) and points out other Hollywood phonies for the insipid blowhards they are. And when he has a good guest on he still rips into them, all in good fun. This DVD comes out right alongside the joyously surpirsing release of a third Season on Comedy Central. Just when everyone thought this show was dead and buried, it comes back with guests like Steven Spielberg, Ice Cube, Mel Brooks and Brandon Frasier.Guests of this show have to have a good sense of humor and be a little masochistic, because Glick is ... relentless ...; fans of this show have to be a little hostile towards celebrity worship to truly get the humor of this.For a great look at what makes the show so original and so excellent, pick up this reasonably priced collection. I'll get it as soon as possible, but I'll also be hoping for season sets."
Skewering What Needs to be Skewered
The JuRK | Our Vast, Cultural Desert | 12/28/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Martin Short's Jiminy Glick character is what television needs in our age of celebrity worship. A sweaty, gluttonous, oblivious, clumsy, clueless interviewer who backhands his guests so deftly that I think they even miss out on the diss.
My favorite interview is with Jerry Seinfeld, another brilliant comedian who can think fast on his feet and keeps up with Short. That segment is gold.
(Although it's not on this DVD, one of my favorite Jiminy questions was put to Mel Brooks on another show, "So what's your beef with the Nazis?").
I also find Mrs. Gathercole (Short made up as Jiminy's ancient, crotchety fan) hilarious, whether she's soiling herself and throwing her bloomers at her abused nurse or shouting out "FORNICATE!"
Like all sketch comedy, some of it can be hit and miss depending on your tastes. But when Jiminy hits, it's a homerun."
The Great Great Martin Short !
Joe | TExAS | 07/07/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Those SCTV fanatics finally got something to cheer about when Martin Short was given this incredible show. He brought back the tradition of that crazy show. Moreover, he brought back the members of it. Levy, Thomas and Flaherty all appeared on season one of Glick. This show is just so intelligent, so many little subplots with Adrian VanVoorhees, Dixie, Mason, Morgan, Matthew and Modine. I have never laughed harder at a show. I cannot get enough of Jiminy and his pathetic nature. Sadly, this DVD is rather brief. It is a best of and not a collection of the whole season. However, the deleted scene with Julia Louise Dryfuss is INCREDIBLE! Here is hoping that Comedy Central will bring this show back and release an entire first season DVD. Great great stuff."
More Glick Please!
Joe | 05/27/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I've been waiting for Primetime Glick to be released on DVD ever since I first saw it on Comedy Central. I pre-ordered this DVD when I heard it was coming out. After receiving it and viewing it, I must say it was worth the wait. The quality of this disc is top-rate.....awesome clarity with superb sound. The episodes selected as "best of" are great.......Miss Gathercole is hilarious as the vulgar, ever-present audience member as are all the other characters portrayed by the most talented Martin Short. Jiminy Click is a classic character, if ever there was one; Mr. Short's best creation. I highly recommend this disc for anyone who needs a good rolling on the floor laugh. Like the other reviewers here, I want to see the entire series to date released on DVD.....just can't get enough of Glick!"