Live television can be a fertile ground for gaffes, in spite of the best possible preparation. That ground grows more fertile when a show hires a notorious womanizer and drunk to host a live comedy show. This scenario, though, serves as the premise for the 1982 film, "My Favorite Year." Set in 1954 New York, Peter O'Toole stars as Alan Swann, an Errol Flynn-like actor who has come to NBC (though the network is never mentioned by name) to appear on "Comedy Cavalcade," a weekly sketch show based on "Your Show Of Shows." When Swann arrives in New York, he lives up to his reputation. He goes out on a bender, and wakes up in a hotel room with two women and a hangover. When he comes to introduce himself to the cast and the writers, he's so drunk, he passes out on a table. The show's star, the Sid Caesar-like Stan "King" Kaiser (Joseph Bologna), wants Swann fired after his introduction. Freshman writer Benjy Stone (Mark Linn-Baker), comes to the defense of the actor he idolized as a child. King agrees to give Swann one more chance, but puts Benjy in charge of keeping Swann sober and bringing him to rehearsals on time.

Benjy gets help in these matters from Alfie Bumbacelli (Tony DiBenedetto), Alan's personal driver any time the actor visits New York. Alfie not only knows his client's drink of choice, but he also knows just about any hiding place Alan has for his liquor. A sober Swann turns out to be a very charming man. He dispenses romantic advice to Benjy as he pursues production assistant K. C. Downing (Jessica Harper). When Benjy's mother, Belle Steinberg Carroca (Lainie Kazan), learns that Benjy is spending his week with Alan Swann, she insists he bring Alan to dinner at her Brooklyn apartment. In exchange for his sobriety, Swann and Benjy tie a few on after the final rehearsal before the live broadcast. During that wild night, Benjy sees a human side of Swann, whose reasons for doing the show involve business commitments.

Meanwhile, union leader Karl Rojeck (Cameron Mitchell) stops by NBC to complain about King's Boss Hijack skits, which are based on him. Rojeck reminds King that he's in the removal business. If Rojeck doesn't like something, he arranges for its removal. King is so unimpressed with Rojeck's threats, he openly mocks the man. Things become so heated in the meeting, "Cavalcade" producer Leo Silver (Adolph Green) has to get between the two. The meeting ends with Rojeck promising that King hasn't heard the last of this matter - and storming out of the office with King's ill-fitting prop hat.

The humor comes at a break-neck pace in "My Favorite Year." Everybody except K. C. knows how to tell a joke at the show - and she's funny when she can't repeat a joke the way Benjy tells one. O'Toole turns in one of his best performances as Swann, a film star who can't resist his temptations. When he's sober, he's an absolute gentleman. At a restaurant where he and Benjy go to eat, he obliges the request of an elderly man to make a 40th anniversary celebration a little more special for his wife. While Swann knows he has to keep a low profile on his misbehavior, he still insists on visiting a club where he got into a fight over a woman. When he sees a woman he wants to meet, Benjy creates a diversion so that his charge doesn't create a scene with her date. When they have drinks, Swann devises a crazy scheme for himself and Benjy to go and visit K. C.. My favorite Swann line comes during that evening's exploits: "Ladies are unwell. Gentlemen vomit." Alan knows his weaknesses, but ultimately, he cares about those who befriend him.

Linn-Baker, who's best known for his role in the TV series "Perfect Strangers," turns in one of his most memorable performances as Benjy, a character based, in part, on Mel Brooks, whose film company helped to bring "My Favorite Year" to life. He's a young man facing a big challenge of his young career. He vouches for a star everyone else wants dismissed. He takes the responsibility quite seriously, but Swann shows him how to have fun with that responsibility. Linn-Baker is also funny in his scenes with Harper. The working dinner sequence, which involves a table full of Chinese food and talk of accordion lessons, is just one of many exceptional moments. The live broadcast humorously shows that anything can happen live, and it takes pros to stay on top of everything. The screenplay by Norman Steinberg and Dennis Palumbo (his only big-screen writing credit) is full of laughs and full of detail.

Benjy's fellow writers get to show their personalities. Head writer Sy Benson (Bill Macy) is a hothead who not only doesn't like Alan Swann's movies, but hates King's criticism of his writing. Sy vows to keep his monologue in the show - until King trashes it to Sy's face. Staff writer Herb Lee (Basil Hoffman), who's based on Neil Simon, whispers his thoughts to fellow writer Alice Miller (Anne De Salvo), who tells them to Sy out loud. They usually are remarks made in accord with what Alice has just told Sy herself. Memorable appearances also come from Lou Jacobi as Benjy's nosy Uncle Morty and Ramon Sison as Rookie Carroca, a former boxer who's now Benjy's stepfather. Belle may have domesticated Rookie, but he still has much to learn about kosher cooking. The lady who gets a dance from Alan is Gloria Stuart, who later earned an Oscar nomination for her work in "Titanic." Director Richard Benjamin, himself a comedian of some note, never lets the pace go from fast to frenetic. The comedy and the detail in every scene is exceptional.

"My Favorite Year" was released in the same year as two big box-office comedies - "Tootsie" and "Porky's." While I consider "Tootsie" to be one of the best comedies of the eighties, "My Favorite Year" is in that same category - and is far superior to the sex-crazed antics of "Porky's." "My Favorite Year" is a loving and funny tribute to an era where Americans began their love affair with the TV set. It's also about a young man getting his first big opportunity, and a veteran actor getting one more chance. Released at a time when "Saturday Night Live" was still in its early years, "My Favorite Year" shows that people still crave a good laugh at the end of the week. This film works just as well the other six days.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older