When Norm Macdonald passed away in 2021, the world grieved deeply. Macdonald, with his deadpan delivery and deliberately tasteless jokes, often dealt in anti-humor by telling jokes so corny and dated that people laughed at Norm’s audacity more than the joke itself. Just as many people were outraged as were impressed by the depths of his tastelessness during his stint on “Saturday Night Live,” whereon he would openly and repeatedly mention the crimes and alleged horrific acts committed by celebrities like O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson. Macdonald, like too many comedians of his generation, also made a series of transphobic jokes during his career, although he eventually (clumsily) apologized for them. “God bless trans people,” he stated, “They should be given every right in the world, and anybody who wants to hurt them is bad.”
Macdonald may have been appreciated, but he was never wholly mainstream, at least outside of standup and “SNL.” He appeared in several movies, but it was usually in cameo roles or providing voice performances. He also co-wrote and starred in the Bob Saget-directed 1998 comedy “Dirty Work,” although that film kind of tanked at the box office.
Macdonald’s biggest post-“SNL” show was his own. 1999’s “The Norm Show” was a network sitcom that Macdonald co-created (with Bruce Helford) and starred in, and it ran on ABC for 54 episodes over the course of three seasons. The premise was cute: Macdonald played a character named Norm, a former hockey player who had been drummed out of the NHL after a scandalous bout of gambling and tax fraud. In order to stay out of prison, Norm — a comedically horrible, selfish dude with no talent for civic construction — agreed to five years of community service. Meanwhile, his best friend and former social worker Laurie (Laurie Metcalf) had to keep him on the straight-and-narrow.
Frustratingly, however, “The Norm Show” is not available to stream anywhere today.
What happened to The Norm Show?
“The Norm Show” was both popular and unpopular. Critics hated it, unsure how self-aware the series was supposed to be. The central gag was that Norm was a horrid person, but the show was often caustic and mean-spirited. He was supposed to help people against his will, but usually just browbeat them with arrogance. It didn’t help that Macdonald’s comedy style relied on his emotionless, deadpan delivery, often paired with a smug, stone-faced smirk. Was he actually becoming more human with his social work? Because he never looked like it. Also, the cruelty of the humor has assured that the series wouldn’t age well.
Critics weren’t often sure of what to make of “The Norm Show,” and it currently sports a 67% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Michele Greppi, writing for The New York Post, complained pointedly about Macdoland’s expressionlessness, claiming that it was up to Metcalf to carry the series. Meanwhile, Joel Stein, writing for Time Magazine, noted that, well, the series just wasn’t that entertaining.
And yet, “Norm” managed to last for three seasons. The series was eventually released on DVD in 2010 by the Shout! Factory, which, as it always does, included some excellent bonus features, not the least of which were full commentaries (for the first two seasons, anyway) by Macdonald and Helford. After that DVD went out of print, though, the show kind of vanished and can now only be seen on the second-hand market or via online bootlegs. Perhaps the DVDs didn’t sell well. Perhaps the humor is considered too dated. For whatever reason, “The Norm Show” never actually made its way onto any official streaming platforms.
It’s also possible that the original video masters of “The Norm Show” would require a digital brush-up before modern broadcast, and no studio wants to bother paying the money to save an obscure show of dubious quality. Macdonald was beloved by comedians everywhere. His series, however, may stay forever in the dark.