"Lookwell" is a 23-minute live action short film that was initially intended as the pilot episode for a new series, but never got picked up. The star here is probably writer Conan O'Brien, even if the director and co-writer both also have a history with the Emmy. Lead actor is Adam West many years after starring as Batman in the cult television show. Here he plays a former television star who apparently learned a lot about being a detective and about crime while he acted in his series. However, now unemployed and not getting new work in front of the camera, he becomes an actual detective and starts solving cases with the knowledge he acquired. This is probably 75% comedy and 25% drama, but to me it did not really work so well for both areas. I cannot say that I really laughed while watching this. This is also why I am a bit baffled by the short film's rating here on IMDb. Not recommended.

Having just watched this absolute GEM HOW COULD IT NOT BE PICKED UP !!!!!! It is exceptionally rare for me to find a program that is laugh out loud funny - but this is it!!! Adam West was born to play this role The sheer absurdity of the deductive process is fantastic. If only I had the capacity to commission the series myself!!!! This could have been family guy!!! Any chance Conan and friends could be persuaded to try and resurrect this one?Turning up to the audition dressed as the character was inspired. Could have cameo appearances from Burt ward, get teamed up with Leslie Nielsen.Definitely an opportunity missed by the networks here in my opinion

This show is really about Adam West. His deadpan delivery and obliviousness to his own shortcomings (or maybe it's denial, tough to tell from just one episode) is really what fuels the comedy here. It's campy and hilarious, but it's mostly a specific type of humor and while there are some jokes that deviate from this basic strategy, the show is not a conventional sitcom (which relies heavily on one-liners). The show is about characterization, specifically that of Lookwell. If you see him interacting with someone for 30 seconds and don't find it funny, it's not for you. If you like West's portrayal as Mayor West on Family Guy, you'll probably find this pilot hilarious and I'd recommend trying to find it online.

"Lookwell" is the thinking man's "Police Squad," a fiercely funny sendup of the TV detective genre. It's a national tragedy that NBC execs pulled the plug. Adam West's deadpan delivery is so slyly self parodying that at times you wonder if he was in on the joke.O'Brien and Smigel manage to drop in references to nearly every Quinn Martin 70s police drama while at the same time weaving a bitterly hilarious ode to the chew-em-up, spit-em-out world of Hollywood TV actors who go from being essential pop-culture icons to unemployable has-beens in what seems like weeks. Often overlooked in glowing tributes to "Lookwell" is the work of longtime television director E. W. Swackhamer, a veteran of the very shows "Lookwell" parodies, who imbues every frame with the dead-serious crime-fighting authenticity of "Tenspeed and Brownshoe" and "S.W.A.T." One imagines the mighty O'Brien could feasibly get "Lookwell" back in production, and he should do so at once. An essential piece of television.