TV Review: Lookwell! showcases the very best of Adam West, Conan O'Brien

By: Stephen Greenwell

Posted: 12/7/06

12/07/06 - Television executives sure are confusing. Dreck like Caroline In The City lasted four seasons and the extricable Wings survived for eight. It is utterly pathetic and inexcusable that such mediocre shows lasted so long, as their meager ratings generated consistent if unremarkable profits.

Meanwhile, quality fare like Lookwell! can't even get picked up, which is a travesty. Lookwell! is a 1991 comedy pilot starring Adam West, written by Conan O'Brien and Robert Smigel (Saturday Night Live's "TV Funhouse" cartoons, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog). A major network did not pick it up, but it can be seen on YouTube or downloaded via Bit Torrent.

Lookwell! stars West as Ty Lookwell, a former television detective. Unfortunately, despite his show's cancellation, he still thinks he can be a detective.

Lookwell was also turned down for a part in a Happy Days sequel. Since he is an unemployed actor, this leaves him plenty of time for detective work.

With the help of the acting class he teaches, Lookwell tries to solve mysteries with elaborate disguises.

The show is carried by the strength of West's "acting." For the uninitiated, West was the star of the cheesy 1960s edition of Batman and is featured prominently on Family Guy as Mayor Adam West. He is well known for his overacting, such as extended dramatic pauses and long-winded soliloquies, all delivered in his tremendous baritone,

At this point in his career, West is almost a caricature of himself, and in Lookwell! he is clearly exaggerating for effect. Everything about his performance is intentionally exaggerated.

For example, Lookwell asks his maid for some hairspray, at which point she tells him that the store doesn't make that brand anymore. After a dramatic, two-second pause, Lookwell mutters, "Those fools."

Lookwell believes he is a legitimate detective because at the height of his show's popularity, he was made an honorary deputy by the Los Angeles Police Department. He even kept his honorary badge, which he keeps encased in glass and whips out whenever someone questions him about his credentials.

He also thinks the police department has problems properly doing its job, which is why he is so willing to volunteer his services. When Lookwell manages to one-up the police, he chastises them, saying, "Maybe if you had watched more TV you would be better at your job."

Still, Lookwell isn't much of a detective. Unlike a traditional sitcom, Lookwell's dialogue and reasoning is completely absurd. Utterly, totally insane, with almost no shred of logic behind it.

But this daftness is part of what makes Lookwell! so enjoyable, and this is undoubtly why it was kept off the air. In 1991, nobody knew who the hell Conan O'Brien was. He and Smigel, who has made a living by shoving his hand up the ass of a dog puppet, were probably seen as ridiculous when they submitted this idea.

They weren't the only ones - Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller submitted an off-the-wall television pilot in 1999 entitled Heat Vision and Jack. It was about an astronaut with super powers and his talking motorcycle escaping from movie villain Ron Silver. Like Lookwell!, Heat Vision and Jack was deemed to ridiculous to be aired on network TV.

While everyone has managed to land on their feet, I can't help but feel that Lookwell! represents a lost opportunity. Since they are successful in other areas of entertainment, there is little to no chance of a Lookwell! revival, either in TV or movie form.

Given the lack of compelling sitcoms on television today, Lookwell! could have really influenced some of today's shows, as opposed to the meager clones of Everybody Loves Raymond and Friends currently crowding today's airwaves.

If you're interested in catching the pilot episode of Lookwell! or Heat Vision and Jack, search for the shows on YouTube. Both are available as of Dec. 6.