Review: Dangerfield gets the Legends treatment in fun documentary

The ill-fitting blue suit and red tie. The sweat-soaked shirt. The bulging eyes and fidgety manner. The rapid-fire jokes about getting "no respect." Rodney Dangerfield was in the Pantheon of comedy greats for all those reasons, but his fantastic stand-up comedy was just a part of his legacy, as we find out in the fun Comedy Central documentary Legends: Rodney Dangerfield, which airs Sunday night at 9.

This is the first in CC's Legends series, where the lives of comic giants are examined through interviews with the stars that were influenced by them. In this episode, the mega-stars come out to talk about the man they equally admire and are indebted to: Jerry Seinfeld, Roseanne Barr, Chris Rock, Robert Klein, Bob Saget, Stiller & Meara, Bill Murray, Jay Leno, Norm MacDonald, Jeff Foxworthy, Adam Sandler, Sandra Bernhardt, Susie Essman, Ray Ramone, Bill Maher and Rob Schneider all provide commentary on how Rodney influenced their careers from afar, and how gracious he was with his knowledge and advice.

The documentary really doesn't cover any new ground: all the information about how Jacob Cohen, working under the name Jack Roy, quit the business in his late 20s, started an aluminum siding business, then changed his name to Rodney Dangerfield and came back in his late 40s, has all been told already. But the one-hour program is fairly thorough, talking about his stand-up, his acting career (especially loved are the classics Caddyshack and Back to School, which are my favorites, too), and the club he opened in 1969, Dangerfield's.

Interspersed throughout the commentary are scenes of Rodney doing standup and sit-down comedy (think Carson) ranging from an Ed Sullivan appearance in 1967 to an appearance with Leno on The Tonight Show in 2002. The bulk of the stand-up material is from an appearance Rodney made in Las Vegas in 1988, and it has all his classic jokes, including: "I went to the psychiatrist and he told me I was crazy. I asked for a second opinion. He said, OK, you're ugly, too." "I drink so much... I gave a urine specimen, it had an olive in it." "My wife is so fucking dumb, it took her an hour-and-a-half to watch 60 Minutes!"

All the comics -- yes, even Rob Schneider, who kept insisting on doing a piss-poor Rodney impression -- have good insights on how much Dangerfield helped their careers by being generous with his time, advice, and friendship. But the better observations about his comedy came from two people who were on his famous Young Comedians special in 1985: Jerry Seinfeld and Roseanne Barr. Barr repeats Rodney's description of how he strings a "necklace" with his jokes, starting a thread (his wife, his health, his checkered career), and then just piling on the one-liners. And Seinfeld talks about how comedy audiences are like dogs always ready for their comedic "biscuits," and that Dangerfield was the best at handing out those biscuits at a constant pace.

Overall, it's a fun and fast-moving special. And it has a surprising amount of profanity for a basic-cable show; the screener I watched did not bleep any of the profanity from both the guests or from Rodney's routine. Not sure if they're going to bleep all that out for broadcast, but it was refreshing that they left all of that in. If you're looking for a break from football on Sunday, turn on Comedy Central and give the king of "No Respect" your full attention.