IF THIS HAD BEEN AN ACTUAL EMERGENCY...
We’ve mourned the demise of the variety show, but, in truth, it hasn’t gone anywhere. It has relocated to a non-traditional place -- late night television. Especially Jimmy Kimmel. Guest stars, skits, ad-libs, laughs. It’s all there. A perfect and hilarious example aired Tuesday (2/2). Through his intro to a sketch, Kimmel’s sidekick, and parking lot security guard, Guillermo, notifies the audience there will be an E.R. reunion. The sketch opens with Kimmel in a hospital bed when who should walk in to treat him but “Dr. Doug Ross,” George Clooney. It quickly becomes clear a reunion is probably not in the cards, but his fellow TV Medical School graduate, “Dr. Gregory House,” Hugh Laurie – American accent in place -- comes to the rescue. And they wind their way around the sketch beautifully. Hugh Laurie, who first broke out as a comedian and comic actor in England, was breaking character and laughing more at George Clooney than the other way around. I think you’ll find yourself laughing at both of them and Kimmel, too. – Linda Donovan