While the series premiere of NBC’s “Best Time Ever With Neil Patrick Harris” performed well from a competitive standpoint and reached a decently sized household audience, it did not at all post blockbuster numbers. Based on the wildly popular British hit Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, the modernized variety show format and its fearless, multi-talented star will make for one of the best nights ever on TV – week after week.
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“This is just weird, I don’t know what else to say”, Levine tells him.
The first-season order for Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris is only eight episodes, but that’s not because the always-busy Harris was committed to other things. “They thought I was insane”.
See, the pranks aren’t of the “look under your seat and find something silly!” variety – they’re deeper, go on for longer, and are perhaps evidence of some sort of dark, pathological comedy condition. Harris, operating in the “see him sweat, but very lightly” mode he has perfected as an award show host, plucked a couple sitting in the audience and brought them onstage. He was the mascot at the sports event they attended, stepping on their overpriced nachos.
Harris photobombed their wedding photos, ate the cake and even broke in the bed in their honeymoon suite – all with them being none the wiser. Among adult viewers under 50, the new show notched a 1.9 rating out of AGT, losing about a quarter of the latter’s lead-in. “Our business really depends on people watching in a certain time period”.
But there’s still more! Setting the tone were the scripted, cornball exchanges between Harris and Witherspoon, who was stationed far away in a corner of the soundstage, in a spacious (faux) announcer’s booth padded with red velvet cushions.
Witherspoon: “I know! It’s where the antiques come from”. Mr. Harris went undercover on their set pretending to be the host of the new Austrian “Voice” in a particularly unfunny segment.
Actor and comedian Neil Patrick Harris, widely known for his role as the good-natured womanizer Barney on CBS’s How I Met Your Mother, is back with a new show this Fall. This week’s insane concoction included magic tricks, pogo sticks, a marching band, and choreography inspired by the Tom Cruise film Cocktail.
A game show segment featuring a studio audience member competing for an odd selection of prizes felt like it had energy and suggests maybe what Mr. Harris really needs to do is just host a game show.
Making jokes concerning the losers at awards exhibits is a unsafe transfer. There’s a rapid-fire pop culture game show. Segments could have been titled “Neil Patrick Harris Wore a Disguise and Stalked a Newlywed Couple and You’ll Never Guess What Happened!” or “Neil Patrick Harris and Reese Witherspoon Are Suspended In the Sky”.
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How many NBC shows did “Best Time Ever” plug? It provides no laugh, no solid entertainment, and no surprises. The result was loud and brash, but at best, a so-so time was had by all.
