For 20 years, Rob Reiner has made comedy the cornerstone of his career. Now he has reached back 50 years and is betting that corny comedy is timeless. His wager: ”Morton & Hayes,” a six-part, half-hour, summer-replacement series for CBS that debuts at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday (WBBM-Ch. 2).
As a straight-faced Reiner explains in introducing the first episode, these black-and-white short subjects starring Chick Morton and Eddie Hayes were recently discovered in the vault of legendary film producer Max King and are being seen for the first time.
”I`ve been trying to get this concept off the ground forever, and just the right combination of things made it happen,” said Reiner during a break in editing one of the six episodes.
The first is that his feature films, such as ”Stand by Me” and
”Misery,” have given the networks ”a little bit more interest” in him.
”The other is that the networks are beginning to feel the crunch of losing their audience share, and they`re willing to look at anything that`s different and new to try and help that.”
The ”different and new” concept to which Reiner refers is actually the different but old slapstick style made popular in the 1940s by Bud Abbott and Lou Costello and, even earlier, by Laurel and Hardy in the Saturday afternoon two-reelers.
Reiner, the son of comic and TV pioneer Carl Reiner, made his debut 20 years ago as Michael ”Meathead” Stivic in the groundbreaking ”All in the Family” TV series and eventually became the producer and director of his own movies. But he has always felt there was a natural connection between TV and films.
”I thought, `Why can`t you marry up the TV format with an old-fashioned comedy team doing short 20-minute films?` Most of the things we see on TV came from the movies: feature films became TV movies, cartoons became Saturday mornings, newsreels became newscasts, serials became sitcoms.
”When I was a kid, Abbott and Costello had their own television show. They played the same characters week in and week out, and so it was kind of a cross between the old-fashioned two-reelers and the modern day sitcom. So for 13 years, I`ve been thinking, `Why wouldn`t that work?` ”
Men and women may disagree on whether it does. Even Reiner acknowledges that the falling-down-whack-`em-upside-the-head style doesn`t appeal to everyone.
”Men like it better. … These old-fashioned kinds of comedy were based on physical stuff, a kind of comic violence, cartoon violence. And I think most women don`t like that kind of stuff-when one guy smacks another guy in the head or slaps somebody across the face. That`s disturbing to most women, and most men find it funny.”
On the other hand, Reiner is concerned about the acceptance of real violence.
”I find it unsettling to observe how much audiences like these big violence pictures. That`s not to say we don`t have a violent side; we all do. And I think a lot of people like to see that stuff acted out. What`s disturbing to me is to see how much we like it.”
Finding the characters Morton and Hayes took more than two years and involved auditioning more than 1,500 actors; Reiner`s feeling was, ”If we can`t find the right guys, forget it.”
The right guys turned out to be Bob Amaral and Kevin Pollak.
Amaral is Eddie Hayes, a Stan Laurel-type in an Oliver Hardy body. He`s a sweet, put-upon, not-quite-there guy and the perfect foil for Pollak as Chick Morton, the wiry and smart-alecky half of the team.
”This looks like a comedy team,” says Reiner. ”They have perfect timing, they feel like one of those teams out of the `30s and `40s. It really only works if you have the proper dynamic, and when Bob and Kevin started to audition together, it was like, ”Wow!` ”
Several of Reiner`s friends were involved in the first six episodes, and others are waiting for an opportunity if the network orders more.
In the first episode, ”Daffy Dicks,” Catherine O`Hara of ”Home Alone” plays a dual role opposite Reiner`s ”This Is Spinal Tap” co-star Christopher Guest, who also is the show`s co-executive producer.
Although Reiner acknowledges that ”Morton & Hayes” isn`t the same old TV formula, he says he thinks comedy tastes haven`t changed so much in the last 50 years that it represents a serious professional gamble.
”I don`t know that it`s that big a risk. Hopefully what we`re doing is the old-fashioned comedy with a modern twist to it. I like to try all these different styles; they`re things I feel close to. I have a lot of sides, switch back and forth.”
