I liked it...

[deleted]

are you for real? i mean i know some people must have liked it but are you really one of them? can you explain what it is about the show that you liked?

I liked it for the first few couple of years before Bullard started to rip off American late night shows without remorse. True - he recycled conventions at the beginning as well, but it was different.

The first two seasons the show were laughably pathetic - Bullard was fantastic at making fun of himself and the show; successfully self-deprecating. The sketches were mostly crap and yet strangely enjoyable. The studio looked old, worn out, dusty and kind of comfortable. The guests were terrible, but that became kind of an in-joke too. Bullard's hair was worse, his wardrobe was awful and yet the humour kind of worked. This was mostly because they were inspired by the awfulness of it all, so much so that you just wanted to come up to the guy and give him a big hug. Otherwise making fun of all the awfulness made the show a bit of a cult hit.

Suddenly around season three something happened. Somewhere along the way a new studio came about, the set got cleaner and Bullard got more pompous - full of himself. He actually thought he had something good on his hands. He started to imitate the US shows - came up with the lame insider bit. There was less self-deprecation and more self-promotion. They went from lame nobodies to lame big shot-wannabees. It was terrible. The guests were still notably lame, but this time it wasn't funny because the whole thing was presented seriously. Bullard wanted a piece of the pie - he wanted to be 'the guy' in Canada's big apple. There were a few good episodes scattered around - Preston Manning, Lloyd Robertson, I seem to recall Jean Chretien popping by. But mostly it was a disaster.

The move to Global for the final trainwreck season sealed the deal. It was a nightmare. I gave it a glance on occasion, but I knew it was going to be over soon. The saddest thing is that Bullard and Co. presented themselves with a kind of a fake glitz - still trying to convince themselves that they had the golden goose.

I remember the show's very first episode cleary still. Mike looks like a bedraggled badger, wearing a suit that is a size small with big, puffy cheeks that later went away after doctor Bernstein. He was laughing maniacally, staring at the camera, aware of the awfulness of it all. "If you are watching," he uttered humorously, "and I know you aren't..."