Better Late Than Never Review: NBC’s New Idea: Maybe Later is Better

at
Share This Post

review

better late than never review

NBC’s New Idea: Maybe Later is Better

Let me begin this article by laying out my credentials as a skeptic. I never cared for Star Trek. When Happy Days was a monster hit, I didn’t own or even have access to a TV. I grew up as a fan of the Cleveland Browns, whose main anathema was not the New York Giants (who frequently gave them wedgies and stole their lunch money), but the Pittsburgh Steelers. Come the time for the Rumble in the Jungle, I was rooting for Ali, not the defending champ. Having established all that, why, you may wonder would I waste an hour of my time watching William Shatner, Henry Winkler, Terry Bradshaw and George Foreman bumble about in Asia?

Well, the only logical conclusion any sensible person could possibly draw is that your narrator must have rocks in his head, but wait a minute (or actually 60 of them), I actually enjoyed the show, titled Better Late Than Never.

The premise of the show is that four people comfortably at rest upon their laurels, are suddenly routed out by the desperate programmers of NBC to take the grand tour of our largest (and almost farthest away) continent. Sure, they all more-or-less said, why not?

The first place that tour guide Jeff Dye takes them is the crown Jewel of Bangladesh, Tokyo. OK, that was just a quick check to see if you were paying attention. The things they do and the places they hit may be great fun for, say a honeymooning couple in their early 20s. For these four old-timers (some of them yet even older than your narrator, if such a thing can be imagined), such fun things come more in the nature of challenges. And no one in the group makes it clearer that he’s being challenged than the outspoken Mr. Bradshaw. I do not mean that in any sort of a negative way. The program would be a lot less interesting without him.

All four of these gentlemen had their moments in the spotlight throughout the show, and they all carried them off with aplomb (to say nothing of some creative editing on the part of the show’s tech crew). George Foreman may have been the quietest of them, but when it came to the very pertinent question or whether they were afraid to take on this venture, he was the one who had the most eloquent explanation of what brought them to such a pass. If you want to explore their response to that and many other questions, you should certainly do so. Sorry, no spoilers provided here.

Next week promises a visit to the Chicago of Japan (Kyoto), then a jaunt over to Hong Kong. At some point, will the fellows be paying a social call on Kim Jong Un? As the late, great philosopher Thomas Waller said, one never knows, do one?

Read more comedy news.

The following two tabs change content below.

Thomas Cleveland Lane

Thomas Cleveland Lane is a semi-retired freelance writer for pay and a stage actor for nothing more than the opportunity to make a fool of himself. Well, he does get a small stipend from the Washington Area Decency League, after playing the role of Hinezie in The Pajama Game, to never, ever appear on stage in his underpants again. When he has not managed to buffalo some director into casting him, Thomas can often be found at his favorite piano bar, annoying the patrons with his caterwauling. Thomas is the author of an anthology called Shaggy Dogs, a Collection of Not-So-Short Stories (destined to become a cult classic, shortly after he croaks). He is also the alter-ego to a very unbalanced Czech poet named Glub Dzmc. Mr. Lane generally resides in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and was last seen in the mirror, three days ago.
Thomas Cleveland Lane

Thomas Cleveland Lane

Thomas Cleveland Lane is a semi-retired freelance writer for pay and a stage actor for nothing more than the opportunity to make a fool of himself. Well, he does get a small stipend from the Washington Area Decency League, after playing the role of Hinezie in The Pajama Game, to never, ever appear on stage in his underpants again. When he has not managed to buffalo some director into casting him, Thomas can often be found at his favorite piano bar, annoying the patrons with his caterwauling. Thomas is the author of an anthology called Shaggy Dogs, a Collection of Not-So-Short Stories (destined to become a cult classic, shortly after he croaks). He is also the alter-ego to a very unbalanced Czech poet named Glub Dzmc. Mr. Lane generally resides in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and was last seen in the mirror, three days ago.