Kid Notorious

I watched this show on accident and found myself laughing out loud more often than not. Evans is so slick and "Hollywood-ish" that it works like a charm. The supporting characters of Tollie Mae, Puss-Puss, and English are hilarious and the outlandish stories and adventures just keep getting better. Animated or not, this show is funnier than most of the sitcoms out there right now. Worth watching.

So of course, I expect it to be cancelled, and am taping episodes already. I have been a loooong time fan of Law and Order, and rarely miss a show, but I have blown it off for Kid Notorious.

This show is bold and daring and that's one reason I love it. They aren't afraid to make fun of anyone--actresses, agents, singers, rappers. Maybe their "peeps" have put out the bad press.

One naysayer on IMDB praised the unfunny Crank Yankers. Well, what can I say to that? "A chacun son gout." So don't spoil this for us.

Several people said that it has inside jokes. I DISAGREE! Who needs to be a Hollywood insider to know that Hollywood churns out garbage because of agent-engineered deals and box-office perception? Who needs to be a Hollywood insider to know that actresses have everything lifted and tucked and collagened? Or that said actresses drop and pick up projects on a whim? Aren't such stories the entire contents of People Magazine and Entertainment Weekly?

In the first episode, the "mafia" come after Kid to get back their investment in a movie. He reinvests it in a musical version of The Godfather, featuring rappers Kid meets in jail. Who doesn't know that turning perfectly good movies into musicals is the rage these days, or that these adaptations are sometimes ridiculous? Isn't the idea of The Godfather as a musical with rappers funny? I think it's hilarious. Maybe you just have to really enjoy movies, or maybe you have to have a good sense of irony.

One person mentioned a joke, "This is one of the most remote villages in the world...hey, look, I got full bars on my cell phone!" Now, what's wrong with that? It's exactly the type of joke you'd find on The Simpsons, about the omnipresence of technology and/or the importance people place on having it that way.

I laughed at this show as much as a good Simpons episode (unfortunately, not as frequent as they used to be). It's a really funny show. It makes me laugh out loud. The pacing is fast and the jokes are funny. I hope it makes it to syndication.

I know that network tv listens to the whims of viewers, but Comedy Central usually knows better.

I agree, Kid Notorious is so good I wonder if it will catch on. I'm recording as much as I can before they yank it like they did Dr. Katz. The first one I saw was with Jacques Chirac and it just railed on the French, talk about timely! I laughed so hard and was hooked. Only the coolest show would have Chirac, Rumsfeld, Kim Jung Il and Slash in it. As for the racial stereotype, lighten up, Tully Mae is one of the best characters. Besides, everyone is stereotyped just as they are on the Simpsons and South Park. "Ain't it Great! You bet your ass it is!"

Let's get right to the point: This is a very funny and slick show. 'Kid Notorious' is the new program from Comedy Central (the folks that brought you 'South Park' and 'Primetime Glick'), produced and created by ultimate Hollywood insider Robert Evans. The animated series follows the adventures of Bobby "Kid Notorious" Evans as he moves and shakes deals all over Hollywood. The Kid's exploits are, of course, based (however loosely) on the actual dealings of Mr Evans, a fact which, if known in advance, should lead the viewer to be fairly amazed at how smooth the Kid (and, in real life, Mr evans) really is. The Kid lives in his posh Beverly Hills mansion with his butler, English, his cook/house keeper, Talley Mae, his furry black kitten, Puss Puss ("Puss" for short), and a never-ending stream of starlets and starlet wanna-be's. The Supporting Characters bring alot with them and are not just relagated to the one-phrase, one-setting scenario often compelled upon similar charater in Network programming ("Hailing frequancies open, Captain"). Indeed, They each seem to play a strong role in the over-all make up of the show. Talley Mae brings the "real world" into The Kid's version of reality (often with very funny tirades). English, the butler, is the perfect "mark", setting-up any number of funny moments, buth verbally and physically. And Puss, well, Puss just seems to enjoy hanging around with The Kid and generally abusing English and causing mayhem en mass.

But the star of the show is Robert Evans. In creating/producing 'Kid Notorious', Evans may have finally found the singular role for which he was born to play...Himself. As the Kid, Evans exudes a graceful and cool style which is often contrasted (diliberately, I assume) with the reality of the given moment (in the first episode, The Kid smoothly talks his way out of some trouble with the mob as if her were telling English which suit to lay out with his rich, velvet voice, all the while the glaring danger of the situation seems palpable to everyone else in the room), which beggs the question, Does the Kid really live in his own fantasy world or does he actually know exactly what is going on and is just too cool to let it get to him? I was left with the feeling that it was the latter. Always smooth ("I can say, 'Baby, you take my breath away!' in 65-langueges..."), always Funny ("...except Ducth"), 'Kid Notorious' seems to have just one week point: It is Too Cool For You, so to speak. As with most "inside" films/shows, the true brilliance of 'Kid Notorious' may only be apparent to those in The Industry or those who follow it closely (read; 'The Player'). For anyone is not familier with how Hollywood works or the political workings behind the scene of any show biz project, this show may just be another cartoon written in a languege they do not understand. But to the initiated, this is a rare piece of self-deprecating humor that also manages to do a supperb job of highlighting the talent(s) and charm of it's lead character and, there-for, by default, it's creat/producer/star. Not many people could pull off so shameless an act of self promotion while at the same time taking pot shots at their own reputation. But then, not many people have led the life that Robert Evans has led. Is he great producer? Debatable. Is he a great Star? Questionable. Is he a great Insider? Undoubtedly! And this is why this show works. Robert Evans has finally found the perfect star for the perfect role of his career. Himself playing himself. Genious.

Robert Evans IS 'Kid Notorious'.

"Kid Notorious" was just one of the many unsuccessful shows that Comedy Central has tried to launch since "South Park" hit big in 1997. The plot to the this great yet short-lived animated series followed the adventures of Robert Evans, arguably the most famous (or infamous depending on how you look at it) Hollywood producer of all time. I've been a fan of Evans' ever since reading his autobiography The Kid Stays In The Picture, which was turned into a documentary/biography by filmmakers Nanette Burstein and Brett Morgen in 2002. The success of that film lead to this series. Unfortunately, this show could not duplicate the success of that film was canceled within months. Perhaps it was too cartoonish for viewers. The writers took full advantage of the fact that this was an animated show, something that other animated series such as "The Simpsons" does not do. My guess though is that as was the case with "Action", viewers just weren't ready for a satiric series about Hollywood. Maybe one they will be. My rating: A