Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries - Platypus Man: Cast Photo

Platypus Man aired from January until July 1995 on UPN.

Standup comedian Richard Jeni adapted his stage material for this series. Richard ( Richard Jeni) was the host of the New York City-based TV cooking show Cooking With the Platypus Man. Each episode opened with him on the set of the show preparing some dish for his viewing audience and telling them about his assorted troubles with women. Richard, who wanted to find the perfect woman and settle down, had a lot of dates but couldn't sustain a long-term relationship. Lou ( Ron Ohrbach), the producer of the cooking show and Richard's friend since childhood, was a happily married guy with ambitions of moving from local channel 72 to network TV. Paige ( Denise Miller) was Richard's next-door neighbor, a sportswriter for one of New York's papers who also had dating problems. But in her case the problem wasn't so such sustaining a relationship as finding someone to start one with. Tommy ( David Dundara), Richard's dumb but hunky younger brother, a bartender at the neighborhood saloon where all of the series regulars hung out, had an active social life unencombered by his older brother's need to find Ms. Right.

In the opening credits Platypus Man was defined as " an adult male human that attempts to mate frequently but spends most of its time alone."

A Review from Variety

Platypus Man
((Mon. (23), 9-9:30 p.m., KCOP))
By TODD EVERETT

Filmed in Los Angeles by Fanaro/Nathan Prods. in association with Paramount Television. Executive producers, Mort Nathan, Barry Fanaro; producer, Marica Govons, Michael Rotenberg; co-producer, David Menteer; associate producer, Stephen K. Rose; director, Andy Cadiff; script, Barry Fanaro and Mort Nathan, based on the stand-up comedy of Richard Geni.

Cast: Richard Geni, Ron Orbach, Denise Miller, David Dundara, Amy Yasbeck, Mia Kottet, Ethan Phillips.

There's one thing about "Platypus Man" as the name for a show -- you aren't likely to confuse it with anything else ... well, "Manimal," maybe. Or "Duckman." This United Paramount Network sitcom, on the other hand,blends elements of funnier antecedents including "Cheers,""Coach,""Seinfeld,""The Larry Sanders Show,""Dream On" and "The Galloping Gourmet." The result is not so much a boeuf bourguignon as Dinty Moore stew.

One thing's for sure: the locker room-type humor in "Platypus Man" isn't likely to challenge the demographic appeal of "Murphy Brown."

Latest standup comic to be given his own series, Richard Geni stars as "Richard Jeni" (the name "Jerry Seinfeld" having been claimed elsewhere), host of a cooking show on NYC TV channel 72. Or as he puts it, "except sometimes when it's raining -- then it's 71."

The Jeni character chats to the viewing audience as he cooks, his menu and monologue aimed at single men. In premiere episode, patter is illustrated by flashbacks to what there is of show's plot. Regulars include producer Lou Golembiewski (Ron Orbach); Jeni's relatively hunky brother Tommy (David Dundara) , who tends bar on what looks suspiciously like the old "Cheers" set; and Paige McAllister (Denise Miller), sportswriter and former pro golfer who lives in the apartment across the hall from Jeni's.

A Review from USA TODAY

TV PREVIEWS/BY MATT ROUSH

UPN animal house: 'Platypus,' 'Pig Sty'

One question often asked about the new Paramount and WB networks: Who needs them? The studios they're named for, that's who.

As the major networks gain control of production and profits of the shows they air, the major supliers fear a shut-out. The goal then, isn't really to give us anything different, but to establish new havens for the same old thing. Like sitcoms.

Having scored with Star Trek: Voyager , which anyone would covet, the United Paramount Network tonight pairs it with two sitcoms the other networks wisely passed on: Platypus Man, a FOX reject; and Pig Sty, an NBC castoff.

Both are set in New York. Both are handsome-looking, shot on film. And both are for the boys, if not the birds.

Platypus Man is a poor guy's Home Improvement for bachelors. It's yet another showcase for yet another stand-up hopeful: Richard Jeni as, well, Richard Jeni, host of a cooking show ( hence the awful title) on which he dispenses hungry-man advice on food and love.

Not surprisingly he's a boob off camera, when it comes to the other sex. Groan No. 1: Tonight, he falls off a health-club treadmill while ogling babes.

Can you imagine?

Jeni is a Tom Arnold sort of schlub, mynus the hypertension or overweight. He's OK, but seems more of a supporting player than leading man. He's one among several: Ron Orbach as his slobby best friend, Dave Dundara as his hunky bartender brother and Denise Miller as the sportswriter neighbor who resents being labled " one of the guys."

Can't blame her.

Pig Sty, on the other hand, makes even less room for women-except for the beautiful super ( Liz Vassey) who finds it easy to resist the five young guys who share a cramped messy apartment.

NBC wisely chose the delicious Friends, with its mixed-sex ensemble , over this bland frat house. Best are Bob's Fall as a slacker songwriter/tobacco heir who lives on $2,200 a month from his parents; and Sean O'Brien as the naive newcomer annoyingly branded " Iowa" by all.

This show can't even keep its facts straight. Though it's set in Manhattan, the aspiring-actress super lands a role in Voyager ( shamless plug), filmed in Hollywood. And though this " pig sty" is so crowded one character is forced to bunk in a walk-in closet , a future episode makes reference to a " spare room" to house a guest.

I sense a vacancy , soon.

Here is Richard Jeni's Obituary from The New York Times

Richard Jeni, 49, Comedian Popular on Stand-Up Circuit, Dies
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 12, 2007
Correction Appended

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif., March 11 — Richard Jeni, a Brooklyn-born stand-up comedian who played to sold-out crowds and was a regular guest on “The Tonight Show,” died on Saturday morning in an apparent suicide, the police said Sunday. He was 49.

Los Angeles Police officers found Mr. Jeni alive but gravely injured Saturday in a home here after they responded to a call from a woman identifying herself as the comedian’s girlfriend, reporting that he had shot himself in the face, Officer Norma Eisenman said. He died at a nearby hospital.

Officer Eisenman said that she could not confirm that Mr. Jeni had killed himself and that the investigation was continuing.

Mr. Jeni’s film credits include the Jim Carrey movie “The Mask,” “The Aristocrats,” “National Lampoon’s Dad’s Week Off” and “An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn.” He regularly toured the country with a stand-up act and starred in several HBO comedy specials, most recently “A Big Steaming Pile of Me” during the cable network’s 2005-6 season. He also appeared on the HBO special “Platypus Man,” which led to a UPN sitcom of the same name that lasted one season.

He also appeared on the sitcoms “Everybody Hates Chris” and “Married ... With Children,” and on the game shows ”Hollywood Squares” and “Match Game.” He became a frequent guest on “The Tonight Show” during Johnny Carson’s reign and continued to appear after Jay Leno took over as host in 1992.

Mr. Jeni wrote comic material for the 2005 Academy Awards, when his friend Chris Rock was the host.

He first received national attention with the 1989 Showtime special “Richard Jeni: Boy From New York City.” Two years later, his special “Crazy From the Heat” received the highest ratings in Showtime’s history.

Correction: March 15, 2007

An obituary on Monday about the comedian Richard Jeni misstated his age. He was 49, not 45.

For a Website dedicated to Platypus Man go to http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~aaron2/upn/platypus/platypus.html

For more on Platypus Man go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platypus_Man