Tue, November 2, 2004

There's no way for me to prove this, but Hank Azaria had a sitcom or sitcom/variety show in the works a year or so ago that was in the can, all set to debut on network television. Then it disappeared like a mafia informant. No trace of it whatsoever; it was like we'd all imagined it.

So when I heard that Showtime, the red-headed stepchild of premium cable, was launching a show around Azaria, my interest was piqued. Perhaps it would be time to play the "Showtime Switcheroo" which allowed me to take a couple of peeks into Out Of Order last summer before deciding that it was way too ponderous and self-important to warrant all the attention. Then, this week, "Entertainment Weekly" contained a full-page ad for the show, Huff, which appealed to my inner book-cover-judger by having that sleek blue-grey feel, a nice typeface, and a picture of a naked Azaria (including strategically placed briefcase) on a city street with the tagline: "Life. Sometimes you wake up in the middle of it." It turns out I took this tagline way too literally, but still the advertisement had succeeded in making me more curious about the show. Also included: the entire first episode on DVD in Dolby Digital and 16x9 enhanced. These people know how to get me! So I watched it, and now I can tell you that Huff is really good and I will probably be dropping HBO for Showtime weekend after next when the second episode airs.

Which, in and of itself, gives me tremendous glee because as devilishly clever as the "Showtime Switcheroo" was, it was kind of a pain in the ass and came with the constant fear of getting caught and excommunicated from DirecTV. Showtime has been putting in extra hours trying to match HBO's juggernaut schedule of original drama series, but taking a more irreverent approach. HBO has great casts, heavy stories, and "important" lighting, which Showtime has matched. Showtime has just added a little wink to it. Still, HBO has been the gold standard and Showtime has fought for table scraps. Today, however, the landscape has changed – at least for me. I watch two shows on HBO: Curb Your Enthusiasm and On the Record with Bob Costas. Both are excellent; neither is on right now. I'm pretty much done with The Sopranos (fortunately, so is HBO): it's just a little too proud of itself for me to respect it any more. Carnivàle and Angels in America topped out the too-proud-of-itself meter and snapped off the little needle, so a show like Huff that incorporates all the same elements but does it right is plenty of reason to make the switch. HBO: set in its ways, self-obsessed, and resting on its laurels (which are, themselves, resting on a mass grave of Emmy statuettes). Sho: innovative, scrappy, and fun.

But just what is a "show like Huff"? Well, I'll tell you.

Azaria stars as Dr. Craig Huffstodt, whom everyone affectionately calls "Huff." He's a well paid L.A. psychiatrist with a humming practice, beautiful wife, and charming son. In the first episode, tragedy strikes at work, and it leads him to reexamine his life and his purpose. Suddenly he doesn't feel like he's been doing anything meaningful and he isn't really sure who he is. In a way, you could say he "wakes up in the middle" of his life. As the hour unfolds, we see that perhaps all is not as idyllic as it initially seemed. His mother (a deliciously meddling Blythe Danner – think Marie Barone in Prada) lives in the guest house over the garage, and is constantly at odds with his wife (Andy Richter's lovely Paget Brewster, who was Azaria's ex-wife in Eulogy). His son Byrd seems to be the only one in the family who has everything together, and that just worries Huff even more. (Byrd is played by Anton Yelchin, by the way, who was excellent in Taken and his memorable guest spot on Without a Trace last year. His cuddly baby face defies description, but it's perfect for young Byrdie.)

Still not convinced? I don't blame you. But watch what happens when I drop a little Oliver Platt on you. Bam! Showtime time! Platt is Huff's longtime friend, and he's a crazy, opportunistic, big city attorney in the excellent tradition of Boston Legal, but with Platt's chubby charm cutting through the sleazy exterior and making him lovable, not just scintillating. Platt is as excellent as he's ever been, and the chemistry between the two, professionally and socially, is a joy to watch. When they're together, they exhibit the best of the show's writing. Huff has a similar gravity and family dynamic to Six Feet Under but the show isn't as depressing to watch. The characters are livelier, and the "world" is brighter – it feels real and that makes it possible to care what happens. And I find Azaria captivating; always have. He was fantastic on Mad About You and Friends, he was great in Great Expectations, he was the entire reason to see The Birdcage, and in Eulogy he was amazing – mixing humor, joviality, and pathos as he does in Huff. He brings all these elements together in a way that few can, a comic actor excelling in the serious moments.

In addition (I'm sure I'm the only one who cares about this kind of thing), the opening titles are breathtaking. The titles were the only thing Carnivàle had going for it – they were spectacular enough that I tuned in for three episodes more than I should've – and these are even better. I'm ordinarily not a fan of heavy metaphor in these situations (e.g., Spider-Man and X-Men), but here it works: we follow an animated length of picture wire as is strings together a growing number of frames including images and animations, in a representation of the human psyche. It's really excellent, and the music is fantastic (W.G. Snuffy Walden, of course).

I can't give away much more, but there is much more. There's more family heartache, there's excellent throwaway moments, and Huff might possibly be hallucinating. It's a delightful show and I recommend checking it out. How much is the newsstand price of "EW", five bucks? And you're getting a great spread on the upcoming Pixar film The Incredibles to boot! Money well spent.

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