In "Cracking Up" I have a thing that's rare these days: a new TV show that might actually be good. TV is so bad that even when there is a good show, I fail to appreciate it in its time, so reluctant am I to get drawn into a crapfest. But that's what syndication is for. This show is written by Mike White, who did the brilliant "Chuck and Buck" and the better-than-it-should-have-been "School of Rock," and it stars Jason Schwartzman, whom a Times article seemed to imply is just now discovering the music of Sebadoh (not that there's anything wrong with that).

The first thing I was struck by in the first episode last night was the surprise of being reminded of "Rushmore" by the music (the first song was a near-clone of Sloan's "Penpals," and later there were many shades of Mark Mothersbaugh's scores), the academic setting (quickly to evaporate), and the unmistakable deadpan dialogue. The last one of these I'm willing to accept was simply something that Schwartzman brought to Rushmore, and that happened to be a perfect fit for Wes Anderson, perhaps even that he took with him to Tenenbaums. But when the DVD arrives I will have to go back and watch "Bottle Rocket" to see if he had this going on pre-Rushmore.

The first episode had a very frenetic pace, which perhaps was due to a desire to get enough of the exposition done to draw the viewer in. This helped keep the humor afloat as it often does, and distracted a bit from the show's adherence to the usual sitcom cliches, such as Schwartzman's character threatening to eliminate the show's premise by leaving the family he's going to live with, then changing his mind after no more than 10 seconds of screen time. This method of hewing close enough to the mainstream to be seen by a wide audience, while not sucking, seems to be a developing trademark of Mike White.

It's slightly odd to see Schwartzman playing the straight man to the crazy family when he made such a delightful eccentric in Rushmore and certainly doesn't have the grown-up and dignified look that one expects for that kind of role. Meanwhile the family, while showing no signs at all of being a family other than living in the same house (until the last 5 seconds when we all learn a valuable lesson...), remains authentic. Most families with that much money really are fucking insane.

Well this was going to be called "First and second impressions..." because they showed the second episode tonight, but then I fell asleep at 8:30pm, thus missing it and probably ruining the healthy and regular sleep schedule that I have kept going for three weeks. Damnit.