bkstruhl
You would not have thought it possible for a comedy to have every joke it makes fall flat on its face. Lookwell is funny in the same way a really drunk guy who can't walk or speak properly but is trying really hard to do both is funny. It is indeed laughable, but only in its complete ineptitude, its remarkable ability to fail so thoroughly and consistently on every level.My only possibly guess as to why so many people say they like this film is that they are the sort who, when seeing a comedian bomb horribly and terribly at a comedy club to the point of being booed off the stage, find this incredibly amusing. Or perhaps imagine this: imagine a comedian so unfunny that people cannot grasp the depths of his unfunny, and therefore convince themselves that he is must be intentionally trying to lampoon the whole concept of humor, although this is not the case.Here's food for thought: Now everyone I know who has seen this video has a new word--Lookwell, v. To lookwell is to try really hard to be funny and to fail.
pfelon
This show is really about Adam West. His deadpan delivery and obliviousness to his own shortcomings (or maybe it's denial, tough to tell from just one episode) is really what fuels the comedy here. It's campy and hilarious, but it's mostly a specific type of humor and while there are some jokes that deviate from this basic strategy, the show is not a conventional sitcom (which relies heavily on one-liners). The show is about characterization, specifically that of Lookwell. If you see him interacting with someone for 30 seconds and don't find it funny, it's not for you. If you like West's portrayal as Mayor West on Family Guy, you'll probably find this pilot hilarious and I'd recommend trying to find it online.
M. C. Brennan (penelopedanger)
"Lookwell" is the thinking man's "Police Squad," a fiercely funny sendup of the TV detective genre. It's a national tragedy that NBC execs pulled the plug. Adam West's deadpan delivery is so slyly self parodying that at times you wonder if he was in on the joke.O'Brien and Smigel manage to drop in references to nearly every Quinn Martin 70s police drama while at the same time weaving a bitterly hilarious ode to the chew-em-up, spit-em-out world of Hollywood TV actors who go from being essential pop-culture icons to unemployable has-beens in what seems like weeks. Often overlooked in glowing tributes to "Lookwell" is the work of longtime television director E. W. Swackhamer, a veteran of the very shows "Lookwell" parodies, who imbues every frame with the dead-serious crime-fighting authenticity of "Tenspeed and Brownshoe" and "S.W.A.T." One imagines the mighty O'Brien could feasibly get "Lookwell" back in production, and he should do so at once. An essential piece of television.
Rusty-61
My husband saw a clip from this on the Adam West Bio andhunted it down on eBay. It was worth every cent, and actually getsfunnier every time I watch it. It's obvious, if you know andappreciate Conan OBrien's sense of humor, that he had a goodhand in the writing. Adam West is perfectly cast and for those ofyou who thought he had no sense of humor about himself...justwatch. Words can't do it justice... down to the last detail, this pilot ishilarious and if I think for too long about the fact it didn't get pickedup, I wnt to bang my head against the wall (or bette yet, bang somenetwork exec who makes these genius decisions against a wall).I defy anyone with a sense of humor to sit through this withoutgiglling uncontrollably in the first 5 minutes (at least once).10/10 stars. Hunt it down or wait till it's on Trio again...it's worth it,trust me.