‘Martin Short’ a Shadow of His Former Self

We have a wonderful show. . . .

--Martin Short on Wednesday night

Can the funniest talk-show guest on the planet be even half as funny as a host?

No.

Is “The Martin Short Show” still worth watching?

Yes. Maybe. Sometimes.

Actually, the syndicated late-night talk hour that opened Monday is “The Martin Short Show” II, its chaotic, ill-conceived sitcom predecessor of the same name lasting just three weeks on NBC in 1994. It wasn’t a complete loss, for the following season yielded “The Show Formerly Known as the Martin Short Show,” a “Saturday Night Live” hilarious sendup of his comedy series that established, at least, that Short could laugh at his klunkers.

If his latest TV effort fails--a possibility based on its initial three outings--he can spoof it as “The Show Formerly Named After the Show Formerly Known as the Martin Short Show.”

He has been the former Martin Short for much of this week, on leave as a genius, with evidence of his stunning comedic gifts and splendidly bent creativity emerging all too rarely in an hour that was mostly just another talk show.

There was the usual sidekick (Mark McGrath), the usual host jabs at the bandleader (“And your hair. Sherwin Williams. I didn’t know they made that color”), the usual guests promoting books and movies, the usual host-participation segments, the usual audience cheering when there’s nothing to cheer.

Certainly there’s little here remotely as catastrophic as such late-night debacles of the ‘90s as Chevy Chase’s month of misery on Fox in 1993 and Magic Johnson’s more recent free-fall without a parachute.

And when the old Short did surface, he didn’t just cook, he was on fire.

That came Tuesday night when he unfurled his newest magnificently loopy character--a witless, fact-challenged, affected, pudgy cushion of a roving entertainment reporter who gushed and looked strikingly like KABC-TV’s dogged stargazer George Pennacchio.

Billed as a recurring segment, the sidesplitter was “Jiminy Glick’s La La Wood.” And unrecognizable beneath the wig and faux flab was Short, always a shrewd observer and mimic of pomposity, insincerity and other foibles.

He was taped springing the smarmy Jiminy and his three chins on Sunday’s Emmy pre-show media carnival outside the Shrine Auditorium. This was one of those obligatory TV awards events where nominees and other celebrities shuffle like “Night of the Living Dead” zombies from interviewer to interviewer in a gathering of stars and media who make an unofficial pact of mutual tolerance on behalf of ego and vanity.

The resulting “La La Wood” encounters were cosmic, with some of the interviewees playing along so convincingly that they appeared unaware Jiminy was Short.

At one point he had a stammering seizure with Jodie Foster. At another, a supposedly irked Jane Krakowski of “Ally McBeal” abruptly walked out on him. Then later he grilled “Joan of Arc” star Leelee Sobieski.

“And you’re the wonderful Leelee.”

“I am.”

“And you’re nominated for ‘Ally McBeal.’ Is Calista fun?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never worked with her. I’ve never been on ‘Ally McBeal.’ ”

“You are nominated for Joan?”

“Of Arc.”

“Joan!”

“Of Arc.”

“Your character in ‘Ally McBeal’ is Joan of Arc. What fun!”

What fun “The Martin Short Show” isn’t most of the time, unfortunately, its A-guest list notwithstanding.

Even with Billy Crystal leading Monday’s trio of guests, most of the premiere was painful to watch while being so tenaciously routine that it was almost self-mocking, recalling “The Sammy Maudlin Show” parodies of “SCTV” on which Short performed so gloriously before moving on to greater fame on NBC in “Saturday Night Live.”

Even so, there were glints of sunlight, with Short as Janeane Garofalo and sweaty, neurotic Nathan Thurm, defense attorney to the stars.

Things were looking up Tuesday night, thanks not only to Jiminy Glick, who was followed by a very funny Kathy Griffin of NBC’s “Suddenly Susan,” but because Short and Steve Martin ultimately conducted some amiable nonsense after a dismal start (Martin also appeared on Short’s second show in 1994, ironically).

But then came Wednesday’s relapse despite an appearance by Short’s antique of a stogie-puffing songwriter, Irving Cohen, who had to be revived--look, it happens--after his heart stopped. It was an hour that somehow managed to make “Monty Python” innovator Eric Idle (a new “Suddenly Susan” cast member) appear bland. One, also, whose opening guest, Jamie Lee Curtis, unburdened herself of most of the contents of her carryall bra, seemingly determined to prove that she’s as much of a regular human as the rest of us. Like . . . who was thinkin’ she wasn’t?

Wrapping the hour was the amazing spinner Chad Lowe, who spun two hubcaps before spinning two suitcases, which, if you’re into ominous symbols, resonated like traveling music for “The Martin Short Show.”

Although gorgeously weird when he creates, Short is just another of TV’s common denominators as a host. He’s shone on the movies as the bizarre wedding planner Franck in the two “Father of the Bride” films with Martin. On TV, he’s been superb on “SCTV” and “Saturday Night Live” and in “Merlin” and “Alice in Wonderland” on NBC. And he won a 1999 Tony for his stage work in “Little Me.”

Talk-show hosting, though, is the irresistible mountain that seems to beckon just about everyone of note, from the about-to-premiere Queen Latifah to Ed Grimley.

A mistake . . . I must say.

* “The Martin Short Show” airs weeknights at 11 on KCOP-TV.

*

Howard Rosenberg’s column appears Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. He can be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].