Today, we look at how The Commish made its lead character a complete moron for the sake of a silly gag based on a pun.
In Remember to Forget, we spotlight pop culture stories that I wish I could forget, but I can’t, so I instead share them with you all, so you’re stuck in the same boat as me!
The Commish was a charmingly lighthearted police drama that starred Michael Chiklis as Tony Scali, the police commissioner of a well-to-do fictional town, Eastbridge, in the Hudson Valley of New York state. Tony was a hot shot detective in the New York City police department who moved to the small town when the Commissioner gig opened up. The stakes tended to be a bit smaller in this small town, so Tony was able to get by with his sense of humor and also be able to spend a lot of time with his wife, teenage son and baby daughter.
However, when you go for humor, you often end up with some horrific results, like the 1994 Christmas episode, “A Christmas Story,” where Tony is trying to figure out what to get his son for Hanukah and he comes to work with a pair of crash test dummies…
https://youtu.be/4CweDEkOW0g?t=20
His secretary comes in and asks what he is doing with the dummies.
He explains to her that he happened to be walking by his 14-year-old son’s room and heard him talking about how he would like to get “Crash Test Dummies” and so he got his son some crash test dummies. His secretary tells him that he was mistaken, as it is the name of a band and the son was likely just wanting their new CD.
“What?!”
When he asks what kind of name that was for a band, she joked that it’s no worse than naming a band Smashing Pumpkins, and Tony notes that David mentioned them, as well. “I thought he was talking about a dessert!”
Ooph, The Commish.
Oooooooooph.
There’s no sight gag that is going to make turning your lead character into a complete moron, or if there IS something worth it, this sure ain’t it.
If anyone else has an idea for a future Remember to Forget, feel free to suggest other topics for future Pop Culture Theme Times to me at brian@popculturereferences.com.
I recall a joke from a Weird Al Q&A
Q: Do you like Barenaked Ladies?
Al: Yes, very much. And I’m a big fan of the band, too.