GONE TOO SOON: A toast to 'Bernie Mac'

Bernie Mac, gone? At 50? Even more surprising than the comedian's early death from pneumonia (he'd been battling the immune disorder sarcoidosis for years) is the fact that his fine Fox sitcom The Bernie Mac Show doesn't seem to be repeating nationally anywhere.

At least the 2001-06 series can be found syndicated on local stations, like New York's WWOR and WNYW (sometimes seen as satellite "superstations"). The comic plays a fictionalized version of himself, a standup serving as foster dad to his druggie sister's kids -- "old school" stern to their new school scams -- weekdays at 4:30 p.m. ET on WWOR and weeknights at 1:30 a.m. ET on WNYW.

The sitcom was a pioneering breath of fresh air when it debuted on Fox in 2001, sort of a neo-Cosby Show, where dad knew best, or insisted he did, even when he didn't. Bernie weekly took us into his confidence as the wise narrator confessing to the camera, ensconsed in his poker room with cigars and wit, taking refuge from kiddie chaos he couldn't quite cope with.

This coming week's syndicated episodes (check your local station listings) have the kids going on strike from chores, with Bernie then hiring neighborhood "scabs," and depict Bernie coping with pet competition among the siblings.

The Bernie Mac Show may not be one of the all-time classics, but it truly made its mark as this decade started, paired with Malcolm in the Middle as a pioneer in the single-camera sitcomedy that has since come to dominate prime-time humor.

It's also worth noting that the show's cocreator with its star was Larry Wilmore, now making another kind of mark, on camera, as the tongue-in-cheek "senior black correspondent" on The Daily Show.

Take another look. At both of them.