A little work, and 'Pretend Time' should do just fine

Some comedians have what it takes to jump from stand-up to television - see Daniel Tosh and Dave Chappell - others, no matter how large the following, cannot - see Jeff Dunham. The latest comedian to try his hand with his own Comedy Central sketch comedy show is Nick Swardson with "Nick Swardson's Pretend Time," which premiered last night.

I'm happy to say it's about time that Swardson got his own show.

For those of you not following comedic circles these days, you may know Swardson from his many roles in Adam Sandler-produced films such as "Benchwarmers," "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry," "You Don't Mess With the Zohan," or - my personal favorite - as footsy-pajama-wearing video game man-boy Jeff in "Grandma's Boy." He's also had a hand in scripting some of these movies as well, along with "Malibu's Most Wanted" with Jaime Kennedy, back in 2003. (Not the best movie, but it tripled in gross, so successful to some).

Others may know him as Terry, the gay roller skating prostitute from "Reno 911!"

Or you may have flipped through the channels and come across his stand-up on Comedy Central. Back in 2000, Swardson was the youngest person, at 22, to tape a Comedy Central half-hour special, and he's had a few more since then, along with two stand-up cds: "Party," and his most recent 2009 release, "Seriously, Who Farted?"

So Swardson has been around. You just might not have been able to put the face to the name.

Unfortunately for Swardson, at this point "Pretend Time" is hit-or-miss.

Sketches in the premier episode included Garry Gaga - Lady Gaga's brother, a cop who also likes to wear unique, over-the-top hats; a paralyzed cat who ran out of inheritance money and likes to party a bit too much; a newer version of the Prius, the Peeus - a car that runs on urine; a dad who takes advantage of his terminally ill kid with a bucket list for himself; and the ever-popular Gay Robot, featuring a cameo by Ryan Phillipe.

Gay Robot was originally a comedy bit on one of Sandler's (who else!) albums. A pilot based on the character was filmed in 2006 with Swardson voicing the robot, but it never got picked up. Four years later it's now featured on the show - with Gay Robot acting as a bouncer at a club and falling for Phillipe's blue eyes (A Caribbean sea with a full moon shining down) and brown hair (An autumn morning at Denzel Washington's house.)

The sketches are good, but not great; it's a bit racy and pushes the envelope, but what doesn't these days, especially on Comedy Central.

I think if the show produced more content than the 30 minutes it allots (20 with commercials) Swardson would be able to delve more in to the characters and produce some better sketches. Right now it's half and half - but it's only been one episode, so we'll see where it leads too. I'm hopeful.