Anticipation for NBC’s “Maya & Marty” was running high: would it be the next “Pink Lady and Jeff,” one of the all-time TV variety show disasters, or did it have a chance of actually being smartly entertaining?
Count it a mild success. Lots of “Saturday Night Live” veterans (Steve Martin, Kenan Thompson, Jimmy Fallon, Kate McKinnon) filled the slow first half. It was all pretty dry, including a Tom Hanks bit, until Jiminy Glick showed up to interview Larry David. It’s been too long.
Jiminy, that unctuous, self-satisfied showbiz-chummy creation of Short’s, brought the funny. Jiminy likes his own jokes. (Larry David’s teeth are “like getting an email from my grandparents,” he said, “ALL CAPS!”)
Jiminy is a great piece of work. Wind up Martin Short in that fat suit and let him go for an hour, that would be a variety show. David was having trouble keeping a straight face, and his laughter is infectious.
The Miley Cyrus cover of Leonard Cohen’s song “I’m Your Man” (dressed for starters in Marlene Dietrich drag) was a surprising highlight. The rest was traditional “variety” sort of summer filler, including a belated nod to Ken Burns’ style “Civil War” docu-letter-writing, broken up by ads featuring “SNL” personalities.
A hot Broadway tap number, with the cast of “Shuffle Along” led by Savion Glover, capped the night, with the high-gloss finish of a vintage variety show.
The whole enterprise felt like a modest “Tuesday Night Live” with Lorne Michaels executive producing. The old-school sketch comedy veterans pulled it off. They could help pass the time on a hot summer night.
No rush. You could wait and catch a moment or two .
