Is funny as funny does?
Not too fond of Terry Gross interviews but I have to spotlight this one with writer/producer Larry Wilmore over at NPR. It's typically stilted with Gross introducing the former "In Living Color" writer in this manner,
"When "The Daily Show" deals with the thorny issues of race they call on their Senior Black Correspondent Larry Wilmore."
Oh, Terry and/or NPR writers. Thorny issues of race!? While, the interview suffers from unnecessary gravitas (Tavis would have killed on this interview), Wilmore deserves the shine however mildly specious the context.
You see, Wilmore's greatest feat in the last decade was creating "The Bernie Mac Show", a brilliant unconventional sitcom on Black family life based on one of Mac's memorable vignettes from his act in The Original Kings of Comedy (2000). But predictably NPR's Fresh Air and the New York Times, who profiled Wilmore this past April, were enamored by his so so faux punditry on the long lily white but now nominatively integrated "The Daily Show." It's unfortunate that guest turns on "The Daily Show" and its kissing cousin "The Office" are what wrests media attention, especially given that those appearances pale in comparison to his Emmy-winning contributions to "The Bernie Mac Show." Talk about good TV. Fox did it dirty switching around its schedule and preemting it for reality TV but it was consistently hilarious and certainly one of the best sitcoms of the decade and one of my favorite sitcoms of all time. So be sure to Netflix "The Bernie Mac Show" or watch evening reruns on UPN for a taste of Wilmore and crew's comic genius.
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