Howie Mandel is mentally challenged.
Now on to the review. See, the problem is, it’s hard to have fun with this. He actually does a good job in the portrayal, but my gut tells me this is exploitative. Logically, I don’t believe that. I feel a Flowers for Algernon story coming, and that was good. Hard to shake that vibe, though.
Blah, blah, dying scientist, Dr. Valerian, transfers his brains into Karl Durand’s (Mandel) noggin. Afterward, he slips up and uses some big words that Karl would never use. The next day, his caretakers are stunned to see he can suddenly play the piano as great as me if I were a great piano-player. However, he is still jealous when his favorite nurse Rose gets engaged, so there must be a little Karl left in there somewhere. Maybe in “Little Karl.”
Karl goes to Valerian’s office and sees it is being looted by William Talbot. He is looking for the mind-transfer device Valerian invented. When he walks out with it, Karl tries to stop him. In the struggle, Talbot falls down the stairs and dies. Karl panics, but Valerian surfaces and calms Karl down.[2] He is then able to transfer Talbot’s mind into his melon also. And transfer Talbot’s briefcase full of bearer bonds into his brokerage account. [1]
The three personalities fight to be in control. The wildcard is Talbot who is understandably peeved at being killed. He does, however, see this as an opportunity to commit crimes that will be blamed on Karl. Well, whose body does he think will go to jail? What is he, retar . . . oh wait.
Karl goes on a spending spree buying jewelry for Rose. When she asks where he got the money, he says his stock split 2 for 1 and he cashed out. So apparently, the writer thinks a stock split doubles your money. She says the jewelry has to go back because she is engaged. We then get to meet her fiancee — a long-haired poet with a soul-patch. Maybe she should have held on to the jewelry; something tells me Rose will be supporting this guy for a while.
But then, she’s no prize either — coming out of the shower and getting into bed wearing a towel. Did we use up the season’s NQ (nudity quota) with Bits of Love? So no more naughty bits of love? Karl senses the detective investigating Valerian’s and Talbot’s murders is getting too close, so he calls anonymously and sets up a meeting behind a bar (in the alley, not the place where the bartender stands. He bops the detective on the melon with a beer bottle and takes his gun. Karl considers shooting him, but instead uses his gizmo to transfer the cop’s mind into his.
All those people in his head, and tragically not one stylist.
Since the last meet-up went so well, Karl phones Rose’s fiancee and says she was in an accident. Pretending to be a cop, he gives the him the address of the parking lot.
The poet pulls into the lot, and leaps from the car, she’s all he’s got, but he doesn’t get far.
A car ahead flicks on its lights, it has the poet dead in its sights, it guns the engine and spins its tires, it doesn’t care what he desires.
Aw screw it, Karl runs the poet’s ass down and absorbs his brain.
It didn’t go where I expected it to, which is probably a good thing. I can’t figure out why Karl or Valerian keep adding more souls to the mix. Of course, Valerian makes sense, but why would he or Karl want Talbot with them? Or the others? Also, a big deal is made over the fact that Talbot was dead during his transfer — then nothing is done with that.
Mandel probably did about as well as could be done with the part. The scenario of a mentally challenged man possessed by five personalities is just risky. It is way too easy to come off looking silly, especially for a comedian. So credit to Mandel for attempting it and doing pretty well. Otherwise, kind of a meh outing.
I feel your pain.
Post-Post:
- [1] I kinda see how he might cash in, stealing them from a dead guy. But how did Hans Gruber expect to cash in the bonds from the Nakatomi heist? Wouldn’t the serial numbers have been reported stolen immediately?
- Or are they regulated by the same body that allowed Bane to bankrupt Bruce Wayne despite a thousand witnesses and an electronic audit trail?
- [2] Oh the irony.
- Title Analysis: OK, he has a second consciousness in his head. But he also has a third, fourth and fifth. Why does the second one get top billing?
- References sadly not used: Deal or No Deal, St. Elsewhere or that f-ing surgical-glove-over-the-head thing.
A beautiful woman named Sita Vernoy died in August 1927 in Delhi. A beautiful baby girl named Santha Naidu was born in August 1928. In between, a pretty un-noteworthy 12 months for beautiful people.
Santha shows up at casa de Vernoy and tells Krishna she is his mother. She throws her arms around Armand and claims to be his wife. Under-standably, Krishna does not accept this woman his same age to be his mother. Not so understandably, Armand does not accept this woman 40 years younger than him to be his wife. Dude!
Title Analysis: Better than the episode. The “return” is her rebirth, her return to Armand, and stretchingly her return to Delhi.
Felix warns John that if there is another forgery — just one more little felony — he will prosecute. Denholm Elliott must have specialized in portraying this kind of upper class leech. In 
Through the window, John sees Felix has understandably dozed off listening to the most boring radio show in history not airing on NPR — a lecture about life insurance and actuarial tables. Getting no answer at the door, he knocks on the window. Felix does not respond, so he opens the window and climbs in. Felix still doesn’t move, so John takes this opportunity to poke him in the head with a fireplace whacker; no wait, to whack him in the head with a fireplace poker.
Barney Martin (Jerry Seinfeld’s TV father), Garrett Morris (SNL), M. Emmett Walsh (everything), Morgan Freeman (everything else) and world’s greatest actor Dan Hedaya [1] are gathered for a poker game.
playing a mentally challenged man — wait, are they going to keep the money they win from him? He should be playing for cigarettes with 
In 1936, Doug and his Aunt Neva are driving through the country. An old man in a dirty white suit runs into the road and flags them down. He climbs into the car without an invitation and tells Neva to drive off because the sun is after them.
Doug says he is thirsty and the old man says, “Thirst don’t describe the state of a man who’s been waiting in the hot mud 50 years [2] and is born but to die in one day. Not only thirst, but hunger!” C’mon, you just had some tar-paper!
They see a little boy in a clean white suit in the road. Neva offers to drive him home. After it gets dark, he leans in from the back seat and whispers to Neva, “Have you ever wondered if there is such a thing as genetic evil in the world?” The car stalls, the lights dim, then nothing. We couldn’t at least get a scream? I think we deserve that.