Belated review: Too Funny to Fail

[Steve Timko]

Hulu produced “Too Funny to Fail” about Dana Carvey’s prime time comedy show stuffed with talent and I finally got around to watching it. It was a good documentary. Two complaints. The music got in the way sometimes, especially towards the end. And I would have loved to have seen interviews for the documentary with Louis CK, Robert Carlock and Charlie Kaufman. The crap was just starting to hit the fan for Louis CK, but the documentary came out in 2017 and Louis CK hosted SNL in May 2017, so it could not have been that bad while they were making it. They do have clips of Louis CK talking about the show. Kaufman is an intriguing character.
It’s insightful, though. Carell and Colbert look like kids. They were doomed from the start with their plans for the show and the time slot after “Home Improvement.” TV critic Howard Rosenberg talked about how he panned the first episode, the later praised it. Plus Disney bought ABC between the time the show was greenlighted and when it aired. Lots to absorb.
I didn’t realize the original appearance of the “Ambiguously Gay Duo” was on the “Dana Carvey Show.”
In the documentary, they said the best episode was the eighth one, the one that didn’t air. I watched it and it was good. My favorite sketch was the crew of “This Week With David Brinkley” on the roller coaster.