Big Day, Help Me Help You, and Larry King: Cadaver

Okay, I think I have figured out what ABC is up to with their awful new sitcom Big Day. It's all a plot to make their other new sitcom Help Me Help You do better by airing it before HMHY which will look positively hilarious and brilliant in comparison. That was what happened to me last night at any rate. After watching twenty two minutes of excruciating "comedy" (okay, to be fair, twenty one minutes; Wendy Malick's foot-induced orgasm was funny) I then watched HMHY which suddenly didn't seem so bad. Of course, that might also have been because the "gay" character Jonathan had less screen time than Mary Cheney at the Republican Convention. In all seriousness, I'm rather fascinated by Big Day and its awfulness. Presumably talented folks working their butts off are behind this show and yet it's an utter disaster. If the comedy were anymore broad it would dwarf the great plains. I suspect they were going after a zany Arrested Development atmosphere, but have missed the mark by a mile. Then there is Freddie (pictured left), the gay character who is secretly in love with Danny, the groom (pictured above, right). It seems every episode is going to feature a cringe-inducing moment where Fred does something to make everyone uncomfortable. Last week it was when he hugged and hugged and hugged Danny. This week Freddie stepped in when the wedding photographer got run over by the bride's father (see, zany!) to take the wedding pictures. But when Wendy Malick (the bride's mother) checked out the pictures they were all of the groom. Weird, obsessive close-ups of the groom that made you think Freddie was going to start mumbling, "Where is my preci-i-i-ous? I want my pre-shusssssssss." No doubt upcoming episodes will feature hilarious clips as Freddie "inadvertently" finds himself in the shower with Danny, stealing Danny's underwear, and holding the wedding party hostage until Danny marries him. Or, if we're lucky, the show will be canceled before then. Speaking of funny, Kathy Griffin appeared on last night's Larry King Live. Kathy was her usual, fun-loving, gay-friendly self (I loved her riffing on gay-speak) but what the frak was up with Larry King? Is he medicated? Senile? Still living? How could the man not know Barbra Streisand is a gay icon? Honestly, he was completely out of it and he was only interviewing Kathy, a stand-up comedian! I'm supposed to believe that tonight that same man is going to conduct a panel on the Hamilton-Baker Commission looking into how to proceed in Iraq? Yeah, I don't think so. Anyway, here is a clip from Kathy's appearance.