No. I did not follow the Twitter feed.
No. I did not read the book.
No. I have not yet visited the website.
I thought I would venture into a completely bias-less viewing of the premiere of Bleep My Dad Says before taking a gander at what birthed this show into life.
And you know what? I dug what I saw. Not only that, something tells me I might be better off for having done so.
You see: I like William Shatner. Not because of the obvious idolatrous Captain Kirk air which hovers around him. I loved him as Denny Crane. I was fond of his turn as Robert Wilson in Nightmare At 20,000 Feet from the The Twilight Zone. And, yes, I even find him amusing in his own way covered in the extra cheese as the Priceline spokesman. (Oh, all right. Yeah. I dig him as James Tiberius Kirk, too. Get off me.)
He’s truly funny. The Practice not only proved that, but his turn here in Bleep My Dad Says justifies it.
But, even better, we see some sides of Mr. Shatner that are not so calculated. We see a softer side of him. We see a contemplative side of him. We see a dry and deadpan side of him. And all these things work well with him.
Ed Goodson (Shatner) is a 72 year-old grass widower whose broke, writer-of-a-son Henry (Jonathan Sadowski) resolves himself to the fact he’s moving back in with dad, despite Ed’s proclivity to spout whatever comes to mind. Thus: Bleep My Dad Says. Example:
“Son: If it looks like manure and smells like manure …
… it’s either Wolf Blitzer or manure.”
Ed’s grumpy and eccentric and unpredictable. You might even find yourself remembering your father saying something similar. (He’s even lovable at times. The fact he has a usable turntable in the house and enjoys listening to long playing records is a personal touch I give an admiring nod to.) In fact, there were quite a few spots in the episode where I actually guffawed out loud during Henry and Ed’s wordplay.
With Will Sasso (MADtv, Neighbors From Hell) and Nicole Sullivan rounding out the cast (MADtv, Scrubs, The King Of Queens), this show will do just fine where it’s at in the sea of new programming, nestled snugly between The Big Bang Theory and CSI.
And, quite simply, William Shatner’s (or should that be “Sh*tner”?) character works for me in this series. As Ed, I’m diggin’ the cut of his jib.
Clacked by Michael Noble 
on Sep 24, 2010 @ 08:00 EST5EDT
My dad said a lot of s#*! that I can’t repeat. Not because it was vulgar but due to the fact he used words I didn’t understand. For all I know he could have been making them up. Carrying a thesaurus when speaking to my father was a necessity, but a total hassle.
I’ll check out this promising program if I manage to remember when it is on. Remind me, OK?
I’ll have to watch, just cause I LOVE Denny Crane so much, and your review makes me so curious! Good job!
I wholeheartedly agree that Shatner makes the show. I even like the son. I cannot stand the Nicole Sullivan character – she’s the ultimate shrew.
I also agree that you made a great decision not to get involved with the book, etc., before watching. Knowing what it could have been, and what it became is a bit disheartening. But, hey, its Denny Crane! That’s never a bad thing.
I think Shatner is the only good thing about this show. The rest of the cast, at least in this pilot episode, are annoying as heck. And Shatner is the best actor of the lot – what does that tell you?
i had never watched Shatner before Boston Legal, but will watch him in whatever he does because Denny Crane, coo coo for cocoa puffs, was f’n awesome.
shatner rocks in this role.
I never even chuckled watching that show.