Vic Nardozza (The Michael Richards Show)

Created by Spike Feresten & Gregg Kavet & Michael Richards & Andy Robin

How bad could it be?

Evidently comedian Michael “Kramer” Richards wasn’t quite rich enough, despite the endless royalties streaming in from endless Seinfeld reruns for the next millennium or so. So the humble, self-proclaimed master of physical comedy came back with a new sitcom in the fall of 2000, as mere couple of years after Seinfeld packed up its tent. This time Richards played VIC NARDOZZA, a former security guard out who goes to work for McKay Investigative Services, after failing miserably with his own detective agency.

The hook was that, despite his background in security, a six-week P.I. course and a whole ton of enthusiasm and attitude, Vic was still essentially a klutz.

What a premise!!!

Evidently, what the world needed right then was yet another parody of private eyes, with a bumbling detective!

Wow! We’d never seen that one before! And what a truly unique setting for a P.I. show: Los Angeles!

But still, you wonder…

After all, there was a pretty solid cast on hand to help out, including Tim Meadows, William Devane and Bill Cobbs, and Richards actually did have a rep for being none too shabby at physical comedy. Devane played Vic’s cranky, curmudgeonly boss and Meadows and Cobbs played Vic’s two more experienced fellow ops. I figured, hey, maybe Vic will get by with a little help from his friends, after all…

And maybe wild monkeys will fly out of my butt…

The conclusion? There would be no airbourne simian spottings. Co-creator Spike Feresten jumped ship shortly after the show’s awkward first few episodes, citing “creative differences” with Richards, and in a 2015 AV Club interview, Devane recalled that making the show was “a nightmare”, blaming both Richards and the lack of a capable showrunner for its failure. NBC pulled the plug in December 2000 after only eight episodes, and almost everyone involved in this trouble-plagued production limped away.

By the way, this entry was written years before the 2006 Laugh Factory incident where Richards embarrassed himself out of a career.

UNDER OATH

• “There were only a few things wrong with it – the lines weren’t funny, the characters weren’t funny, the sight gags weren’t funny – and he didn’t do any detecting.”
  — Nathalie Bumpeau
• “Unlike Seinfeld, this wasn’t a show about nothing — it was actually nothing.”
  — David Wild (Rolling Stone)
• “The Michael Richards Show isn’t merely unamusing; it’s shockingly incompetent.”
  —  Ken Tucker (Entertainment Weekly)

TELEVISION

• THE MICHAEL RICHARDS SHOW
  (2000, NBC)
  8 30-minute episodes
  Premiere: Tuesday, October 24
  Writers: Michael Richards, Spike Feresten, Andy Robin, Gregg Kavet, Ron Corcillo, A.J. Poulin
  Director: Michael Ritchie, Andrew Tsao
  Executive Producer: Michael Richards, Spike Feresten, Andy Robin, Gregg Kavet
  A Castle Rock Entertainment Production
  Starring Michael Richards as VIC NARDOZZA
  with Amy Farrington as Stacey Devers
  Tim Meadows as Kevin Blakeley
  William Devane as Brady McKay
  Bill Cobbs as Jack
  and Amy Farrington as Stacey Devers
  • “Mr. Irresistible” (October 24, 2000)
  • “Simplification” (October 31, 2000)
  • “Discrimination” (November 14, 2000)
  • “The Identity Loan” (November 21, 2000)
  • “The Nursing Home” (November 28, 2000)
  • “It’s Only Personal” (December 5, 2000)
  • “USA Toy” (December 12, 2000)
  • “The Consultant” (December 19, 2000)