[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Dec 20 2005, 09:14 AM\']The point made about Howie needing to shore up his commercial pitches is a good one, but I'm willing to write that off to first-show jitters. I could tell he improved even over the course of the hour, so I have high hopes for the rest of the week.
[/quote]
I wanna give credit where credit is due, here. Just over the course of three shows, Howie has gotten GOOD at the commercial pitch.
I shook my head when they said "It's gonna be Howie Mandel", but dammit, he's freakin' GOOD. I would love to see this show succeed just to see Howie do this some more, even if it DOES stay broken. I even like the fist bump.
(And I enjoy the show open a lot, too, even with that silly vault. The walk with the sudden emergence onto the set as he hits the Eternal Question is neat. Beats the hell out of Johnny Vaughn opening that stupid door.
GOTTA do something about "Open the case." If he mixes THAT up a bit, his evil break pitches will be that much more convincing. "Let's see what's in there....AFTER THIS!!"
And he's done this, too, but I gotta eat a little crow on "Open the case!" He seems to be turning it into a little catchphrase of sorts, by having the contestant issue the order occasionally. Not bad at all.
For such a broken, poorly post-productioned show, we sure seem to enjoy watching it, though, don't we? (Unless your name is Mark Odor, of course, and anyone who didn't see THAT one coming down Broadway just wasn't thinking.)