barry watson

TV Guide reports that Christina Applegate's new ABC series is now titled Samantha Who? As Bob reported about a week ago, the network failed to get permission from the estate of Dr. Seuss to use the title Sam I Am, which was the original title of the series but also refers to the Seuss book Green Eggs & Ham.

Before settling for Samantha Who?, the network and the people behind the show briefly retitled this series Samantha Be Good.

(S02E19) That wasn't much of a finale, was it? You can definitely tell that there were a couple more episodes that were meant to be and this one just got tweaked a little. I'm not sure how much else could have changed had we gotten a full 22 installments, but you never know.

As I expected, Dave and Deena's impromptu wedding become the focal point of the episode, while everyone else just ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. That's one of the things you still gotta love about this show. No matter what else is going on, it always boils down to who's sleeping with who.

(S02E18) What about Brian? Hell... I forgot about Brian. Didn't even realize there was a new episode last night until about an hour ago when I decided to clean out my TiVo list. I really do like this show, but apparently I'm not the only one who doesn't have it at the top of their list. Next week is the season finale, meaning the show order got cut by three episodes. First it got the 13 half order, then the full 22, and now it's been slashed to 19. What is it about the 10:00 PM time-slot on Mondays? Can anything stand up to CSI: Miami? It isn't being called the series finale next week, but with this news, it doesn't look likely that we'll see a third season.

(S02E17) Something about this show... it's reaching right now. It had its footing, lost it, found it, and now it's back in some sort of weird TV limbo. It just feels like there's nothing of importance going on. Which is weird because I still enjoy the show a lot. Something was different here though. We've always known that this was a show about young people with relatively large amounts of money. That's kind of standard for ABC right now from Grey's Anatomy, to Brothers and Sisters, to the brand-new October Road. However, this was the first episode of What About Brian that really screamed, "Look at us, we're rich!" I'm not sure how I feel about that.

(S02E16) I have to admit, I keep flip-flopping on this topic. I'm for Marjorie. I'm against her. Back and forth. I think what I'm starting to realize is that I really didn't like her character at all, but rather what she brought to the table: something that tied the whole series together. Something that gave the show meaning.

After her departure, there were what, two really great episodes? And now this. I'm not saying I didn't like this episode, but it was a bit of a step down. There are just far too many little stories going on (most are great), but what's tying them all together? There's nothing that feels like it might turn into a big plot for the rest of the season. This show needs that right now.

(S02E15) People should really start watching this show, especially if you've never seen an episode before. In terms of the show and its characters, everything is re-starting and beginning again. So it's a prime time to get into it because at this juncture, everything that happened before is starting to reach the point of irrelevancy.

That being said, there's a lot going on now to make up for the fact that most of the original storylines and dilemmas are dying off. New characters are being introduced, new romances are popping up, and the same mentality that got me hooked on the show finally seems to be resurfacing: everyone just wants to get laid.

(S02E14) Well it took a little more than half the season for the new staff of producers and writers to turn around What About Brian, but it's finally reached that point. This is a whole new show now. The Marjorie story is done, and while I'm not discounting another potential return for Sarah Lancaster, I'm not sure what the point would be.

You have to look at this way. Would the series have really worked if Marjorie was just hanging around, constantly getting in the way of everyone's relationships? Don't forget -- I relentlessly lobbied for her return too. However, the more I think about, it would have gotten stale fast. Using Marjorie to help introduce everyone in the first season and help create the atmosphere was great. But if you look at the big picture, that was her only role. The characters, Adam and Brian especially, need to develop beyond that initial boundary.

(S02E13) This show is good again. It's been building and building with great episodes the past two weeks, and if it's possible after last week's stellar installment, this one was even better.

Way back last spring when I first reviewed the pilot episode, I had this to say about What About Brian:

"This show has got it. Whatever it is. It's got the quirkiness of Ed along with the "at the end of the day it seems like everyone just wants to get laid" mentality of Grey's. Plus it's funny. That sounds like something that should work... right?"

Well, the show lost "it" for a while and it wasn't working. Now, If you ask me, What About Brian is poised to be the hit that I always hoped it would become. Now if only ABC has the sense to move it out of the Mondays at 10:00 PM time-slot.

(S02E12) You'll have to forgive the lateness of this review folks. I've been on a business trip for the past week and the hours I worked were crazy. I missed pretty much every TV show I like. That being said, I finally got to see this episode (thank goodness for ABC's online video player) and all I have to say is wow. This is precisely the way this story needed to be told and it's exactly the type of episode that What About Brian needed for a recharge. Despite the recent string of decent episodes, this show is now officially back on track and I'm excited to see how it develops during the rest of the season.

(S02E11) Yes! Yes! Yes! This is the episode we've all been waiting for. We're at the midpoint of the season and everything that happened at the very beginning is finally coming full circle. Fans of the show - you know what I'm talking about. So bear with me as we go through everything else. You have to admit, the way this episode culminated, it was well done. It didn't feel canned... OK, I'm stopping. Plenty of other plot points to discuss before we get to the good stuff.

The good stuff being Marjorie's return.

(S02E10) This was the type of episode that originally drew me to What About Brian. It was fast-paced, all the stories intertwined, and it was laugh out loud funny on more than one occasion. It's a good thing too because had this episode not been so good, and I was planning on not reviewing it anymore. This one has me hooked again and believe it or not, it had nothing to do with the cliffhanger.

I've been keeping an eye on the ABC episode streaming site. Of all of the network streaming solutions, theirs is the one that I like the best. And they have made some changes, so if you haven't checked it out yet, there are some new goodies. As of now, you can watch all the episodes from the current season for Ugly Betty, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Brothers And Sisters, and What About Brian. Those last two are recent additions. There are also four episodes of both Six Degrees and The Nine, but no word on when, or if, more are coming. Finally, the first episode of ABC Family's Lincoln Heights is also available.

(S02E09) I've gotten to the point where I'm overly critical of this show because it used to be really good. So I'm trying to make an effort to like it again. The five season one episodes were just such a welcome surprise last spring and I even speculated that this show could become the next Grey's Anatomy if ABC handled it right. Well guess what? They didn't handle it right.

For the longest time I've been lobbying for the return of Marjorie. After last night's episode, I realized something. I don't think Marjorie's return will make a difference at all. Adam is too proud to take her back and Brian is too smart at this point to throw it all away on her again. Besides, I'm starting to enjoy their respective new storylines and Bridget and Heather make nice additions to the show.

(S02E08) Well this was certainly an improvement. If anything, I say that only because the show did some things that I actually didn't expect to happen.

It's interesting with shows like this, especially ensemble shows. If often becomes easier to predict what certain characters are going to do next because they get put on a path of sorts. So it's always nice when they deviate from that path and you don't see it coming. I like surprises.

(S02E07) Lately I feel like a broken record when I talk about this show. I still love it, but you have to agree with me here -- things are feeling a bit stale. There are a few things I want to discuss, but before I dive into that, I've noticed a lot of commenters asking about the show's theme song lately. It's titled "Calling All Friends" and it's by some small band called Low Stars. I've never heard of them before and wasn't able to find a site where you can download an MP3 of the tune, but then again I didn't try too hard. So if anyone knows a site, please fill everyone else in. However, you can stream the whole song from the band's MySpace page if you're dying to hear the entire thing.