The two-disc Foxworthy's Big Night Out gathers together all twelve episodes of this CMT comedy variety series from 2006. I remember quite a bit of hype when this show premiered, but I wasn't too terribly surprised when it failed to catch on with viewers. Jeff Foxworthy, the very smart, very funny stand-up comedian who's made a large fortune trading off his own redneck roots, just can't seem to make that cross-over into TV personality. His first network show, 1995's The Jeff Foxworthy Show, was canceled first by ABC, picked up by NBC, and then promptly canceled again. In 2005, after his career received a major boost from his famed Blue Collar Comedy Tours, he launched Blue Collar TV, as a joint venture for the WB and Comedy Central networks. It failed to garner any significant ratings, and was canceled. And in 2006, Foxworthy premiered Foxworthy's Big Night Out on CMT. It only lasted twelve episodes. The numbers don't lie: Jeff Foxworthy is one of the most popular and financially successful stand-up comedians in the history of comedy. But somehow, he just can't seem to transfer that widespread appeal to the small tube.

Of course, as of this writing, Foxworthy appears to have a network hit on his hands with the FOX game show, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader, but I'm not sure how much of that success can be directly attributed to Foxworthy. Certainly, his genial presence on this seriously stupid game show makes an occasional peek bearable for the viewer. But Foxworthy's self-described redneck appeal has been toned down to the point of invisibility by ABC, perhaps in an effort to make Foxworthy more mainstream. And that very well may be what's wrong with Foxworthy's Big Night Out, as well as Foxworthy's other failed network series.

Anything actually celebrating true Southern culture and humor is almost verboten in today's effete, liberal mainstream media. If someone like Foxworthy is mentioned at all in the national press, it's in a dismissive, usually mocking tone, as if the writer can't believe that there are actually people out there who enjoy his kind of humor. The appeal of redneck humor - or for that matter, anything that has to do with the South -- makes some people in the media and other P.C.-ravaged domains very nervous. The pervasive image of ignorant hayseed, toothless hillbillies riding around in pickups sporting gun racks while their radios are tuned to NASCAR, is a safe refuge for a scared, mocking media, as well as Hollywood. Indeed, if any other identifiable culture in America were as regularly and viciously lampooned in movies, TV, and in print, as the so-called "redneck," there would be a firestorm of controversy in the halls of government, and on the pages and screens of the national media. But of course, you never hear a peep about it, do you?

So when Foxworthy brings an affectionate mocking of his own culture to the offices of corporate TV, his series are either toned down (as he claimed happened with his first network show), or they're relegated to smaller cable channels where they're all but ignored by the press. I've seen Foxworthy's stand-up act; it's just as knowing, smart and funny a look at a specific culture as Richard Pryor's hilarious observations on African-American culture. But when I see him perform on shows such as Foxworthy's Big Night Out, it's apparent - much like Pryor's brief, disastrous experience with network TV - that something is getting lost in the translation to the boob tube. It's not that Foxworthy's Big Night Out isn't occasionally amusing or entertaining; it is. It's just that it seems all so pre-fab, so carefully whitewashed of any spontaneity or subtle social commentary, that it just lies there, lifeless.

Each of the twelve episodes of Foxworthy's Big Night Out are fairly similar. A celebrity country music guest briefly comes out and introduces Jeff, who does a short monologue (he's chased off the stage by The Homewreckers, a sexy female dance group bedecked in traditional Southern garb: plaid shirts and Daisy Dukes). Then, a comedy skit follows, usually featuring the guest musician. A brief segment featuring a "Redneck Dictionary," no doubt cued to Foxworthy's successful book tie-in, follows. Then, the guest musician sings a song, followed by a sit-down with Jeff, where they engage in some scripted patter (with a nice feature where old pictures of the guest and Jeff are displayed for the audience's amusement). The show wraps up with another song by the musician, a song which strangely can get cut off by the end credits (who exactly timed these shows, anyway?). Guests for this first and only season of Foxworthy's Big Night Out include Hank Williams, Jr., Kenny Rogers, Trace Adkins, Sara Evans, Billy Currington, The Warren Brothers, The Wreckers, Joe Nichols, Blake Shelton, Jack Ingram, Pat Green, and Montgomery Gentry.

Naturally, the main appeal of Foxworthy's Big Night Out is Foxworthy himself, but unfortunately, he seems rather distant here. Whether it was the pressure of trying to bring in another series after several flops, or the fact that the material is genial but rather tame, it's hard to say. But Foxworthy frequently looks uncomfortable, particularly in the many substandard comedy skits. A few regular bits come off well, particularly the backyard family reunion skit that features Foxworthy as mullet-haired Bud, putting the bite on his various famous musician relatives. But others, such as the opening funeral parlor sketch with Kenny Rogers, play like rejected bits from a later Hee-Haw season. A sure sign of a misguided production is the semi-regular inclusion of a hypnotist for supposedly funny on-air skits. A hypnotist? What's that kind of act doing on this particular show? Comedy hypnotism bits went out with The Mike Douglas Show, and their inclusion here (with a particularly creepy and uncomfortable stint that involves Trace Adkins) reeks of desperation of the part of the producers. Foxworthy is fine, if underdirected in many of these pieces (I doubt anybody at this point in his career actually "directs" his performances), and his regular supporting comedy cast are quite talented. These supporting players follow along standard comedy variety types: the sexy blonde (Sara Erikson), the physically goofy brunette (Brooke Dillman), the overweight, outrageous party guy (Shane Caldwell), and the all-purpose comedy lead (Peter Oldring). The performers aren't the problem here in Foxworthy's Big Night Out -- a misguided production and all-too familiar material sinks this promising series.

The DVD:

The Video:
The full-screen video image for Foxworthy's Big Night Out is not the greatest, with a soft, unfocused look, and some compression issues, particularly some edge enhancement. It actually looked better when it was originally broadcast.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English 2.0 stereo mix is strong but unexceptional. There are no subtitles or close-captioning options.

The Extras:
There's quite a bit of extras included on this two-disc Foxworthy's Big Night Out DVD. First up, there's a seven minute blooper reel that shows a lot more spontaneity -- and fun -- than the actual series. Next, a collection of some of Jeff's monologues from the show are included, which is a pretty pointless bonus. Next, some brief behind-the-scenes looks at the show's production are gathered up, which again shows that more fun was to be had behind the curtain of Foxworthy's Big Night Out than in front of it. Next, we have bios on The Homewreckers, if you're interested (a special shout-out to Suzie is in order). Next, there are some shots of the supporting cast working out at the gym (?). And finally some previews of CMT shows.

Final Thoughts:
I wanted to like Foxworthy's Big Night Out more than I did; after all, Jeff Foxworthy is a talented and funny comedian, and he's the kind of genial nice guy that you want to root for in a show. And it's not like Foxworthy's Big Night Out is an actively bad show. The supporting cast is quite good; the guest stars perform well, and occasional skits do work out well. Unfortunately, Foxworthy's Big Night Out's main crime is that it's an exceedingly familiar show -- and one that could have used some sharper writing. If you're a Foxworthy fanatic, you'll want this for your collection, but if you're only a fan, you could probably rent it -- if you haven't already seen it enough times in repeats on CMT.