Buffalo Bill, Season 1: YouTube Clip of the Month

With the possible exception of W.C. Fields, no one’s ever made misanthropy — or misogyny — more appealing than Dabney Coleman. In the last century, Coleman seemed to embody a certain American brand of white male privilege better than any other actor, playing unforgettable heels in pop culture staples like “On Golden Pond,‘’ “Tootsie’’ and “Nine to Five.’’ His sexist, abusive boss in that last film pretty much set the template for the modern male chauvinist pig. Women know this character all too well, and such behavior was regularly laughed at prior to the #MeToo era. Coleman was responsible for a good chunk of that laughter.

As ubiquitous as he was, Coleman struggled to find a starring vehicle on the small screen. He could play the villain on ”Columbo” for a night, but audiences seemed to chafe at watching him screw people over on a weekly basis. Three times, network executives developed a TV series for Coleman: ”Buffalo Bill” (1983-84), ”The Slap Maxwell Story” (1987-88) and ”Drexell’s Class” (1991-92). All three were canceled after two seasons.

The latter two shows were unremarkable, but ”Buffalo Bill” is a real lost treasure. Coleman played Bill Bittinger, the host of a morning talk show on Buffalo’s fictional WBFL-TV. He yearns to score a big-time gig — i.e., anything bigger than Buffalo — and when he’s not busy coming on to his female guests and co-workers he’s straining the patience of those around him with each gruff, craven attempt to further his own career. Memorable support is offered by Joanna Cassidy as his producer and occasional love interest, Max Wright of ”Alf” fame as Karl Shub, the meek station manager forever bullied by his star, and Geena Davis as Wendy, the production assistant and the most frequent target of Bill’s sexual advances.

The show’s ratings were never that great, and despite Coleman’s personal friendship with Johnny Carson , the network’s biggest star, NBC axed ”Buffalo Bill” in 1984. (The early 1980s were a bad time for inventive TV comedies — ”Police Squad” was canned after just six episodes in 1982.)

Watch ”Buffalo Bill” today, though, and the phrase ”ahead of its time” fairly leaps to mind, from its anti-hero protagonist and cynical, insult-heavy humor to its frenetic behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of a TV show. Much of the real show involves the ego of the fake show’s insecure host being tended to by various staff members, and a strong influence can be seen here on ”The Larry Sanders Show.” A plotline in Season 1 has Bill’s long-lost daughter moving in with him, and Bill is openly and brutally disappointed that his offspring isn’t better looking — a device also used hilariously in HBO’s great comedy,”Veep,” which finds Selina Meyer eternally disparaging her daughter to her face.

The joy in watching Bill Bittinger glide through life crapping on those he should be most grateful to is made palatable because of Coleman’s greatness, but also because we know Bill’s vain delusions of grandeur will always be stymied. He’ll never leave Buffalo, he’ll only grow to be a more bitter asshole, one year at a time.

Streaming access to this neglected gem is unlikely. The full two seasons are available on DVD via the good folks at Bezos Inc., but we’re not here to cost you any money, dear Popwell reader. That’s where YouTube comes in. Marc Mopper appears to have the best collection of the show — he has all 12 episodes of Season 1.

Season 2 is harder to find, but one episode from that season is available, and for that we should be grateful. It involves a Jerry Lewis lookalike contest at the station, when office hallways are invaded by swarms of jittery, spastic men spewing verbal diarrhea, and no vending machine is safe. One such impersonator stumbles into Shub’s office and proceeds to wreak havoc in some mighty inventive ways. The actor is a young unknown named Jim Carrey, years before his breakout on ”In Living Color.”

The Carrey scene begins at the 3:45 mark in the clip below, and lasts only a minute or so. It really has nothing to do with ”Buffalo Bill,” or what made it such a good TV show. But it stands alone as a spectacular and perfect tribute to the unique comic genius of Lewis — and of Carrey himself. I dare you to watch it without laughing out loud.