TVSquad

Speaking of Rob Schneider, Paul Blart was produced by Happy Madison, Adam Sandler's company. Sandler is the only reason that Rob Schneider is still working. Kevin James was in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry a few years ago...

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I thought Kevin was terrific in "Hitch". He was really acting, not playing another variation of Doug Heffernon, so I have high hopes for his new movie.

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What made "King Of Queens" work was, as with many good sitcoms, its ensemble, most especially Jerry Stiller and Patton Oswalt, as well co-star Leah Remini. and recurring players Larry Romano, Nicoile Sullivan, and even semi-regular Lou Ferrigno as himself.

Otherwise, Kevin James was basically a second-rate retread of Jackie Gleason's "Ralph Kramden," which itself had already been lifted in animated form for "Fred Flinstone' and, partly, as an everyman by Carroll O'Connor for his "Archie Bunker" characterization. O'Connor himself had admitted this, that "Archie" was derived from a combination of Gleason's most famous character and James Cagney.

This is not to totally minimize James' comic ability--he was able to infuse "Doug Heffernan" with some of his own traits. But what annoyed me most about that show was Remini's skank factor (then seeing footage of her, along with some other Hollyweirdos, at a Scientology rally annointing Tom Cruise as the head anti-Christ) and the negative nepotism broght by the casting of James's talentless brother (as the lead character's cousin), who acts under the moniker "Gary Valentine."

This show was a spin-off, of sorts, from "Everybody Loves Raymond, even though would have been better to have posthumously spun off the "Robert Barone" character of Brad Garrett after "Raymond" ceased production.

I think Doris Roberts and some of that sitcom's other ensemble players and semi-regulars would have stayed with such a venture had it been developed. Certainly the dysfunctional family of "Robert's" wife, "Amy" (Monica Horan), as played by Georgia Engel, Fred Willard and Chris Elliott, would have been interesting. And it looked as though Elliott's character of annoying nerd, brother "Peter" was heading toward the altar with "Ray" nemesis" Amy Aquino, who played "Peggy Hitler" in a few episodes.

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The marketing being done for this movie smells of desperation.

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They dumped it in January. If it was any good, they would have released it a month ago.

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Wow, people, we're not exactly talking about Citizen Kane here. It's a comedic "Die Hard" in a mall with a clumsy fat guy. I'm sure that was the entire pitch for the film. "Paul Blart" is a simple comedy aimed at kids that the producers hope can keep those kids' parents entertained as well. "Dumping" a film in January is not necessarily the case, since a film like this would easily get buried during the big holiday season. but wait a few more weeks and release it when there's no comparable competition and it can have a big opening.

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It's always about the writing. It's gotta be.

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