Who would have thought Bernie Mac would be the man behind the most intelligent show to hit TV airwaves in a long time?
Not that I have any problem with Bernie Mac. I've always found him to be humorous and entertaining. He's just not exactly the guy who I would expect to end up on this kind of show.
But here he is, the star of the smartest, most original, most positive, and funniest TV comedy I have seen in years.
With it's non-use of a laugh track, it's commentary by Bernie Mac (who spends a good part of each show sitting on his favorite chair and addressing "America"), and it's little on-screen notes, this sitcom is about as anti-sitcom as it gets, but it's this orginality that helps make it special. The Bernie Mac Show bucks trends by avoiding crude humor and sex jokes, and the messages this show provide are ultimately positive. Another thing that impressed me about the Bernie Mac Show is that it is one of the first comedies I have seen in a while to feature a Black cast, but doesn't saddle it's characters and storylines with African-American stereotypes. The problems faced on this show are universal.
The cast is great too. Bernie Mac was born for this role, and the kids on the show also deserve credit, because they have roles to play and characters to portray. They are parts of the story, and not just extra bodies like the child cast members are on some other sitcoms. And they all do a good job with it.
But besides all of these great aspects the show has going for it, the Bernie Mac Show is outright hilarious, which makes it one of the best shows on TV today.
