In an effort to target weekend viewers, Zee English has added a slew of new shows to its lineup. One of them is The Norm Show. The laugh a minute riot airs every Sunday at 9:30 pm.

The main protagonist Norm Henderson, (Norm Macdonald) is a professional hockey player. His propensity to gamble without paying taxes leads to him being thrown out of hockey for life. Faced with the possibility of a life behind bars, Norm opts for community service as a social worker. Laurie (Laurie Metcalf) is Norm's co-worker and best friend.

To some extent, one can think of this as The Guardian with a huge sense of humour. A large part of it comes from Norm’s dead-pan dialogue delivery. In the pilot episode when his boss tells him that he doesn’t know if Norm is joking or just stupid, Norm calmly replies, “I just try to mix both” without a single trace of expression which proves to be immensely delicious for the viewer. This is a marked contrast to other shows like Everybody Loves Raymond where the funny lines are delivered at times with a smirk.

Like most sitcoms, this one too has a superb ensemble. The cast including Max Denby as Norm’s boss play off each other exceedingly well. This is particularly noticeable in their reactions to Norm's at-times loony remarks. While it could be considered a typical stand-up-comic-as-lead sitcom ala Seinfeld, the jokes come in a steady flow and manage not to sound trivial which sets it several notches above average. The comedy is being played against a serious background of trying to make a difference to peoples lives who are currently struggling.

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