“Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris” is a good time, but not quite the best time. It’s still working on its voice but it is entertaining and boasts one of the best hosts in the entertainment industry.
That host’s name, as you can tell from the title, is Neil Patrick Harris. He’s a good choice to helm a variety show, as he’s a bit more than an actor. He’s an entertainer.
An entertainer is someone whose goal is to entertain you by any means necessary. They’re versatile and willing to try anything to make an audience happy. The best entertainers make whatever they’re doing look like fun.
Harris is the most well-rounded and cheerful entertainer working today. He’s a magician, singer and Tony award-winning actor. He’s the type of person who treats every new challenge with a shrug and a smile before revealing that he was good at that new thing the whole time.
He’s the best thing about “Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris.” Whether it’s performing magic or beating guest announcer Reese Witherspoon by climbing up 15 stories faster than her.
In one segment, “Best Day of Your Life,” Harris brings a couple onstage and reveals he was secretly a part of events they had attended. The segment closes with footage of him photobombing their wedding photos before he reveals that he is sending them on a honeymoon to Antigua.
It was a fun segment that reminded me of what Michael Scott from “The Office” thinks when he hears the term “big brother” which is, “Wow, I love my big brother.”
The idea of someone following you and secretly inserting themselves into your life can be scary. It isn’t scary when it is a beloved celebrity who will give you a trip.
Some of the other segments were less fun. Harris’s prank on Carson Daly and the judges of “The Voice” had a good premise, but you get the feeling they cut the best jokes out.
The closing “end of the show show” number features Harris performing magic and doing pogo tricks as the various guests dance. It’s a lot like “Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris” itself: overstuffed, high energy and fun. It might not be the best time ever, but it’s a good start.
Jesse Pasternack
