JamesBurrows
Alyssa Milano Is 'Romantically Challenged'
No, that's not an assumption on the actress' amorous ways, although I'm willing to put that assumption to the test if she's particularly irked by it. The 'Who's the Boss,' 'Charmed' and 'Melrose Place' star has landed a new sitcom on ABC that can easily earn some steam since it's airing after 'Dancing with the Stars.'
'Romantically Challenged,' a sitcom about a recent divorcee looking for signs of life after marriage, will start airing on Monday, April 12 after 'DWTS.' The show is created by former 'Family Guy' writer Ricky Blitt and James Burrows has been tapped to direct it.
It sounds ridiculously simple and run-of-the-mill in terms of creativity, but sometimes the simplest ideas have the potential to catch fire. Does the show have the potential to be hot or will it go up in flames?
Gary Unmarried: the new According to Jim
Anyone who thinks that the lame, traditional, laugh-track-laden sitcom is dead hasn't seen Gary Unmarried yet. Unfortunately, I have. And I've got to tell you, it's probably the worst sitcom since the undead According to Jim first infected our airwaves in 2001. It's too bad, given the talent involved.And when I mention "talent," I don't mean series creator Ed Yeager, who helped foist Still Standing on the American public for four years. I'm talking about stars Jay Mohr, Paula Marshall, Ed Begley Jr., and Jaime King, as well as esteemed sitcom director James Burrows. They're talented people stuck in a show that contains the same wacky plots and "setup-joke" rhythm that has led many to think the multi-camera sitcom is as dead as disco.
Back to You -- An early look
In July, I was at a sitcom writing seminar in which Sam Simon (who helped develop The Simpsons) declared: "the sitcom is dead." Veteran comedy writer Ken Levine (who hosted that sitcom seminar), however, disagrees. Ken believes the traditional multi-camera sitcom might be on a respirator, but still has a pulse. Levine said, "I would amend Sam's statement and say that yeah, the bad, stale, family sitcom with tired rhythms, forced laughs, and bogus characters is dead."I guess if you're trying to revive the dying sitcom, a good way to start is by assembling a top-notch team. And Fox's new Wednesday night comedy, Back to You, does just that.
Back to You gets a little help from Burrows
Iconic TV director James Burrows has joined the FOX series Back to You as an executive producer and the main director for at least the first season.
While I've personally never been a huge fan of the sitcoms Burrows has been involved with (Cheers, Friends, Dharma and Greg, Will and Grace, Fraiser, Two and a Half Men, countless others), it's no secret the man has a way of propelling sitcoms to new heights, which is undoubtedly what the hope is for Back to You. Also, let me quickly add that I understand the appeal of many of Burrows' series, I'm just not wired for their style of humor. It could be a factory defect, I don't know.
Back to You stars Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Heaton and Fred Willard as members of a news team in Pittsburgh who reunite after their main anchor, played by Grammer, returns after being disgracefully fired from his position in a bigger market.
The Class to continue in a more traditional format
One of the problems I've had, and continue to have, with The Class since it premiered this past fall was that the show had just too many characters and too many stories. Sure, the storylines with Lina and Richie were sweet and had the most dramatic impact, and the stories with Kat and Ethan were often very funny. But the Duncan and Nicole storyline seemed right out of the Friends playbook and the Kyle/Holly/GayButNotGay Husband story? Ugh... the less said about it, the better.But it looks like the show's creators, David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik, are getting the message. According to this AP article, they have decided to create more epsiodes where the group is together, rather than the disparate storylines that dominated the first ten or so episodes of the season. They admit that, while having a soapy, separate-thread structure for the show was a novel concept for a sitcom, it just wasn't working. And the actors wanted to do more scenes together, too, so it seems like going back to a traditional format is working better for everyone.
Will & Grace: The Finale (series finale)
(S08E23) There are those who are die-hard fans of Will & Grace, which premiered on the NBC schedule back in 1998. Then there are those who despise the show, which is about the relationship between Grace Adler (Debra Messing) and her gay friend Will Truman (Eric McCormack). The fans love the back-and-forth between the two characters and the dynamic of their relationship. Those who hate the show may be uncomfortable with the subject matter (homosexuality) or the cartoon-ish characterizations of Will and Grace's friends Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes) and Karen Walker (Megan Mullally ), or the fact that it's just not funny.
I fall under neither category. I liked Will & Grace, but was not a huge fan. I'd watch it if I happened to see something interesting going on, and I'd laugh at a few of the lines (not as heartily as I would laugh during an episode of Scrubs, though). Yet, Jack annoyed me sometimes and the influx of guest stars on the show was somewhat distracting. In fact, over the last few years I didn't really follow it at all.
However, as this would be the last episode of the series, I decided to give it a review. My opinion on the last show of the series? Meh.
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