Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic

We’ll never know what it was like to be Richard Pryor. The brilliant and troubled comedian was a lot of things. He was a husband seven times over -- because he married two of his ex-wives twice. He was the father of six children, the son of a pimp and a prostitute, and the grandson of a madam. But more than anything he was funny. Pryor made people laugh about race, class, sex and death like no one else. It’s a gift that brought him millions of dollars at certain points in his life and sent him crashing toward rock bottom at others.

This is a reality Showtime’s fascinating and heartbreaking documentary “Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic,” which debuts Friday, May 31 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, captures very well. For 90 minutes, filmmaker Marina Zenovich (“Wanted and Desired”) takes fans into Pryor’s dizzying life and career. It’s a stand-up career that began with Pryor trying desperately to be like Bill Cosby and play up his Peoria, Ill., sensibilities. But that wasn’t his fate. And Pryor became a larger-than-life star when he threw all of those notions aside for grittier, racier and more provocative subjects and approaches. Around the time Pryor became a star he also developed a taste for drugs and alcohol. When he could no longer keep his demons at bay with the help of these vices, he attempted suicide and set himself on fire.

In fact, “Omit the Logic” opens with Pryor’s failed attempt in 1980, an act that should’ve killed him. But miraculously, he lived for another two-and-a-half decades. Pryor, who battled Multiple Sclerosis toward the end of his life, died of a heart attack in 2005. He was 65. For all of the film’s high points and revealing interviews – and there are many – Zenovich only scratches the surface. Expect commentary from Robin Williams (who worked with Pryor on his short-lived NBC sketch comedy, “The Richard Pryor Show” in 1977) as well as Whoopi Goldberg, Bob Newhart, Mike Epps, Richard Pryor Jr., and Jennifer Lee Pryor – Pryor’s fourth and seventh wife. Perhaps because of cultural differences (Zenovich is white) or time, Zenovich failed to tap into Pryor’s feelings of professional and personal isolation, particularly as an African-American man in Hollywood in the 1970s and 80s. This is a man who landed a $40 million movie deal in 1983.

What was that like?! While there is one reference to Pryor quitting a lucrative Las Vegas gig back in the 1960s, because he didn’t like where his career was going, clearly there were existential crises. Remember when Dave Chappelle (who appears very quickly and briefly in the “Omit the Logic”) quit his wildly popular and beloved Comedy Central show back in 2005? He said one of the reasons he walked away from a reported $50 million deal was because he struggled with that moment when white fans were laughing with him and when they were laughing at him. Pryor dealt with that a lot as well and it would’ve been nice to go there and really touch that nerve. But the film doesn’t. But hey, you can only do so much in 90 minutes. If fans want more, they’ll have to read the eye-opening autobiography, “Pryor Convictions.” In the meantime, consider “Omit the Logic” a very hearty and worthwhile aperitif.


Mekeisha Madden Toby is a Los Angeles-based television critic who works for MSN TV (tv.msn.com). The Detroit native has covered the medium and the entertainment industry for 14 years and used to work at The Detroit News. Madden Toby is also an NPR contributor and has also written for TV Guide, CNN.com, eHow, People Magazine, Us Weekly, The Seattle Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Minneapolis Star Tribune and The News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash. She holds a B.A. in journalism from Wayne State University. Madden Toby is also a wife and mother. When Madden Toby was 10, she started her own magazine and paid her staff in candy. Check out her podcast, "TV Madness with Mekeisha Madden Toby," at tvmadnessmmt.podbean.com or on iTunes. Follow her on Twitter at mekeishamadto.