The second season of Showtime’s Dice opened Sunday, August 20th with the episode titled “It’s a Miserable Life.” As you might gather from the title, this episode is a parody of the classic movie, It’s a Wonderful Life. Comedian Andrew Dice Clay dreams of what life would be like for him and those near and dear to him if he had not created his stage persona The Diceman.
While attending the Bar Mitzvah for his friend Milkshake’s (Kevin Corrigan) son, the Rabbi confronts Dice Clay on what a change his life has taken. Once a good boy, he has made a living as a vulgar low-brow comedian. The Rabbi tells him, “The world would be a better place if Andrew Dice Clay had never been born.” Thus, the long dream sequence of an episode begins.
Waking in a hotel room as a conservative-dressing, glasses-wearing garment salesman for the last 35 years, his fellow sales crew is planning a celebration of his long, successful career by throwing him a party at their convention in Las Vegas. His wife of 35 years, Connie (Gabrielle Conforti) is his high school girlfriend known for her skills in giving blow jobs. She calls to congratulate him. His two sons are in Las Vegas on business – they are selling their app for singles saving themselves for marriage – and they run into Dice Clay. They acknowledge that they, too, are virgins saving themselves for marriage and disavowing the pressure put on young people to have sex. Dice Clay also runs into his real wife, Carmen (Natasha Leggero) and tries to convince her that he is her real love, not some weird stalker.
While in the hotel bar, Carmen and Dice Clay glance over at the television in the background as the newscaster says, “And in other news, President Hillary Clinton may have just brought on world peace. The first female president gave an eloquent and thoughtful speech at the United Nations today.” Carmen says, “Such a relief she won, right?” Dice Clay just nods in agreement. Oh, brother.
After realizing everyone is doing terrific in this alternative universe, where people are decent and normal and living successful lives, he begins to question if the world would be better off without him and his Diceman character. Carmen reminds him that much of the perfect lives portrayed by others is a façade – there are no perfect lives. At the episode’s end, he awakes and he is back to normal.
One critic asked, "Is it that big of a stretch to blame Dice for helping to normalize a culture of patriarchal sexism to the point where a president could survive a sexual assault scandal by claiming it was just 'locker room talk'?" Yes. Not everything is about Trump and Hillary, except to the liberal anti-Trump Hollywood set who still smart over last November’s election results.
A different president still wouldn’t make today’s world perfect, either.
