Sammy review

 The best things in life are found by accident and in the least likely of places. Did you know old reels of episodes of a vintage British cartoon were found in a pigshed? It goes to show how even the most obscure of things can find their way back into the public conscious, well, beyond the ensuing search and discussion.

There exists a cartoon so unknown, so paradoxical, people are amazed it's so hard to find. It's name was Sammy. It had come and gone within a week, vanishing without a trace in plain sight for over twenty years, then by some miracle it was found by the same guy who found The Electric Piper. Thanks Matt.

Context

Sammy was a late entry by NBC to cash in on the trend of adult animation. It started as early as the early-mid 90s when CBS and ABC threw their hats into the ring to compete with the then popular The Simpsons, NBC was a no-show since Jackie Bison was too much for them. If you never heard of their efforts, you're not missing much, but don't listen to Saberspark, Family Dog was the worst of them, a disaster and irrevocable stain on the resume of writers from Animaniacs and Batman: TAS.

ABC would try again with The Critic, which years from now would turn out to be shit, NBC brought over Stressed Eric, which already had a low density of episodes by then and CBS was so traumatized by Family Dog they just never bothered to do animation again (Lower Decks and whatever else don't count since it was on a streaming service that otherwise has a programing schedule different than the main network, especially now since it's currently Paramount+)

It wasn't until 2000 where the prospect was revisited. As The Simpsons started to wain in popularity, networks saw the opportunity to curbstomp, I mean it makes sense if they did. ABC tried with Clerks: The Animated Series but then changed their mind quite quickly when Who Wants to be a Millionaire hit the scene.

NBC seemed to be more in it in 2000, airing God, The Devil & Bob in March. However as history shows, religious groups took offense to the show (though ironically it's creator was an ordained minister and the show proved to be incredibly humane (even surprising me when I caught it on Adult Swim years later)). That, along with low ratings gave NBC cold feet, and led them to holding over another animated show in the pipeline, Sammy being it.

Due to contractual obligation, NBC had to air a certain number of episodes, two being it, so they burned it off within a week with no promotion. The show was known, even being discussed in Variety, but when it came to footage, everyone was SOL. Until (May 24th, 2021)

The Show

Sammy was a pet project by David Spade, all things considered. He starred in, produced and created the show alongside NewsRadio and Zoolander writer Drake Sather. He liked the idea of voicing characters so much he did it twice here. Since 1997 it was common for comedians to star in their own sitcoms, well, the lessers in the gene pool, Pauly Shore got one, Jenny McCarthy got one, you get the picture.

The show was co-produced by Brad Grey, who helped produce another Spade project for the same network Just Shoot Me!, then ongoing. It was animated through Adelaide Productions, as Grey was heavily associated with Sony as far back as The Larry Sanders Show. The art direction was handled by Everett Peck. If you draw comparisons to Klasky Csupo shows when you see the art, he worked there prior. They even produced his first creative effort, Duckman.

You could say a celebrity project would've spelled this show's fate, but thirteen episodes were promised, maybe they saw something we didn't. But then again the ratings would just so happen to go down at some point. Unfortunately I doubt people would welcome this that warmly, that comes with the territory.

Alright now really the show

Sammy doesn't necessarily center on Sammy. Rather, it centers on actor James Blake, in a mirror representation of David Spade's early days in Hollywood, mixed with some personal life stuff. It goes deeper when you realize Spade brought his father in as a consultant. Oh by the way, Spade voices the both of them.

It's a rather blase take on the lavish Hollywood lifestyle. Think Daria but on the west coast, and James isn't at odds with himself or the world. James' estranged father Sammy wants to get back into James' life, probably because he's famous as that was the first time he has seen him since. Sammy is, for all intents and purposes, a womanizing creep who sees his kids as an unfortunate addition at worst, and a means to an end at best. It wasn't as common in most adult cartoons at the time, so perhaps Sammy was ahead of its time in that regard.

The rest of James' family is at least mostly aware of Sammy's shitheadery, that being his brother Gary who is more unwilling to let Sammy back into their lives, and Todd, who seems to only be a few braincells ahead of Ajax Duckman. For better or worse, James is more lenient toward Sammy and isn't as willing to lay down the law, at least as hard.

Deep down James missed Sammy and wanted a father figure in his life, so he's taking whatever opportunity he has. Based on the plotlines of other episodes, it seems Sammy would take the wheel as a hero or someone who wants to try and make up for his past. The other episodes are on the way, so for now, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. For now it seems people react appropriately to Sammy's smarmy behavior.

Other characters on the Hollywood end are Spade's agent Mark Jacobs who is surprisingly cooperative for a Hollywood agent, even with a slight ego. I got no word on the female associate, the first episode didn't give me that much to work off of. Mark walks the line between generic tone deaf agent and one who's compassionate enough to help.

The first episode didn't give me a whole lot to go off of, which is sad since this is one of two episodes to have made it to air. Though I'm not deterred from wanting to see more of it, 

In a way, the fact that James and Sammy are voiced by Spade represents different sides to a celebrity feature, one is blase about the experience while the other wants to give it most of his all, or maybe it just represents both sides to Spade, his typical one and his comedic one.

Overall

I have my doubts this show will be that warmly received, though I feel terrible this had been lost for so many years. Sammy isn't the greatest show ever, it can feel a bit slow and Sammy can weigh on your patience, but I guess it's refreshing to see a cartoon where Hollywood isn't portrayed as some malevolent boogeyman with imps as agents.

I do love how Sammy's actions aren't necessarily rewarded, and when James gets the short end because of Sammy it's usually for something James had no interest in to begin with (that one time actually got fixed later on.) I have a feeling the deeper side of things is left up to interpretation, but hey that's something. However people feel about the show, that's their right, but at the very least Spade can go on knowing something that clearly meant a good deal to him is seeing the light of day yet again.

Now, here's something people are gonna wonder. Is Sammy a worse dad than the one from Allen Gregory? Well, at the very least those who he left behind have the will to stand up to him and don't want him back in their lives, he's just obnoxious in general but didn't work to destroy someone's marriage to give the a hollow life and his kids won't carry on with his worst traits.

I dunno.