John Lithgow and Kevin Hart played Drummond and Mr. Arnold in ABC's "Live in front of a studio audience: The Truth of Life and Different Brushstrokes". Christopher Willard/ABC hide caption

John Lithgow and Kevin Hart played Drummond and Mr. Arnold in ABC's "Live in front of a studio audience: The Truth of Life and Different Brushstrokes".

First of all, admit: I have never been a big fan of Jimmy Kimmel's live audience specials. The idea of ​​a late night host-to redo classic Norman Lear sitcoms with modern stars-is great. But in practice, Woody Harrison plays everyone in the Archie Bunker of the family, Jamie Fox plays George Jefferson in the Jefferson family, and Pharaoh Jay plays Jay in good times. This has always been for me. Is not correct.

Many times, these episodes mostly prove that the original success of these classic sitcoms is a unique alchemy, matching indelible roles with performers who can take these roles to another level. Without the magic of Carol O'Connor, Sherman Hemsley, or Jimmy Walker, you would often see talented actors making vague impressions and providing faint echoes of the original legend. Kimmel was preparing to deliver the same disappointment for the third live show on Tuesday night, where the actors of a game played in the facts of life episode. (Jennifer Aniston, playing the snob Blair, hasn't he forgotten how to express the punch line of sitcoms in the 17 years since Friends stopped airing?) But they came to the Diff'rent Strokes episode, height challenge, over forty years old Kevin Hart plays the 8-year-old Arnold-a role remembered by the late Gary Coleman. Then the magic came back.

Kevin Hart (Kevin Hart) in "Live in front of a studio audience: the truth of life and different brushstrokes". Christopher Willard/ABC hide caption

Kevin Hart (Kevin Hart) in "Live in front of a studio audience: the truth of life and different brushstrokes".

Watching Hart with a beard, running on stage in a superhero costume, jumping into the arms of John Lithgow-Mr. Drummond, the wealthy adoptive father who plays Arnold-do you think the absurdity of the actor brings A new laugh. Hart tried his best to perform every bit of physical comedy he could do, pretending to struggle to climb out of the bunk bed, imitating Coleman's unique gait. Damon Waynes succeeded Todd Bridges as Arnold's brother Willis, which was another surprise, setting Hart's punch line as a perfect straight man before his own cunning jokes. ("Even though he looks 45 years old, he is only 8 years old," Wayans instantly blanked his face at Hart's Arnold). The most surprising stuntman of the night — rapper Snoop Dogg plays Willis’ friend Vernon — was inspired, mainly because Snoopy is a much better comedy than many people realize actor. In fact, when the stars briefly break the character or find a way to bring a new interpretation to the old material, the best moment of the night appears. Will Arnett played Blair's cheeky suitor in the episode "The Truth of Life" and provided a short improvisation while talking to Jon Stewart, with a score higher than the big one. Most script quips (Stewart plays Carl, a geek who also likes Blair). There is also a new last line in each episode-Jennifer Aniston's "Facts of Life" witticism, which is not very memorable and partly covered by applause. ("I will be by your side," tribute to old friends.) But Hart's last sentence-"Why does Vernon always smell like weeds?"-is also very accurate, and is a good one for Snoop's character Callback. Usually, I find that I prefer commercials to episodes, because some of them were shot in a retro style, dating back to when these episodes were first aired in the late 70s/early 80s.

In particular, Flashdance star Jennifer Beals and Fresh Prince of Bel Air co-star Alfonso Ribeiro appeared in several retro-style commercials with split sides, including a series of products including Heinz Ketchup and Jack in the Box restaurant, which felt like an old school week. Six nights live advertising satire (created by a production company/marketing agency co-founded by movie star Ryan Reynolds).

Before the Diff'frent Strokes episode, I was going to write an article begging Kimmel and ABC to stop working on these projects. The first one, in which John Amos played different roles in "Happy Hour" is a bit lost and particularly unbearable.

But Hart and Waynes have shown how to take these specialties beyond the dubious exercises of nostalgia. Performers need space to bring more to their roles, not a sharp performance of the old sitcom punch line. (Maybe they should reconsider the rules that force actors to stick to old scripts and allow more immediate improvisation.)

Ann Dowd and Jon Stewart appeared in "Live in front of a studio audience: The facts of life and Diff'rent Strokes." Christopher Willard/ABC hide caption

Ann Dowd and Jon Stewart appeared in "Live in front of a studio audience: The facts of life and Diff'rent Strokes."

Casting stars on Tuesday: Aniston, Catherine Hahn, Gabriel Union and Alison Tolman play Blair, Joe, Tuty and Natalie in "The Truth of Life." Arnett and Jason Bateman joined Stewart as guest stars in the episode; Lisa Whelchel played Blair in the original series and sang The Facts of Life theme song, while Boyz II Men members Shawn Stockman and Wanya Morris sang Diff The theme song of'rent Strokes.

Nonetheless, Tuesday’s production proves that these special shows need to go beyond digging out stars who are vaguely similar to the characters they are recreating. Even the great Ann Dowd is not particularly interesting. He perfectly imitates Charlotte Rae’s maternal butler in both episodes "Life Facts" and "Diff'rent Strokes". Mrs. Garrett (Mrs. Garrett). These roles need performers, and their presence can add a sense of humor beyond imitation.

Surprisingly, Lear is still experiencing his heartfelt tribute to his comedic genius on the scene; Kimmel is quite right to gushed about the 99-year-old man’s extensive career and service in World War II. At the beginning of the show Qian sits next to this respected executive producer.

Let Lear drop a bomb before everything starts-he is explaining how he values ​​the words "end" and "next", but slyly let go of the vulgar swear words before the first word-this It's a good cheeky energy. Nonetheless, despite his talent and innovation, a script written more than 40 years ago needs more help to remain interesting and relevant in 2021. These special shows are so popular that Kimmel and his staff, including executive producers like Will Ferrell and Kerry Washington, can continue to do them as long as they want. But I hope they learn from the success of Hart and Waynes and use these materials more in future entertainment and actor performances. Their existence increases the possibility of new comedy, not just the past. The giant nodded slightly.