Comedy returns to primetime

by Joshua Maloni
Niagara Frontier Publications, March 29, 2008

Chances are, you’ve never heard of “The Return of Jezebel James.”

The FOX sitcom premiered last week and was permanently yanked this week after dismal ratings. Despite a talented cast (Parker Posey, Lauren Ambrose), and a slot on television’s No. 1 network, the show failed to draw an audience.

“Jezebel James” is the latest casualty in a sitcom-challenged television landscape. In stark contrast to the “Cosby” – “Cheers” – “Roseanne” – “Seinfeld” comedy dominance of the ’80s and ’90s, this decade has shed tears of a clown as dramas and reality programs horde viewers.

In the past two seasons, the aptly titled Grim Reaper has claimed more than a dozen sitcoms. Some were critically acclaimed (“Andy Barker, P.I.,” “The Knights of Prosperity”). Some were not (“Cavemen,” “Studio 60”).

However, with the Writers Guild of America strike and resulting influx of sub-par replacement programming, TV audiences seem to be hungry for comedy. The recent return of the CBS Monday lineup of “Two and a Half Men,” “How I Met Your Mother” and “The New Adventures of Old Christine” was a resounding success. “Men” chalked up 14.1 million viewers while “HIMYM” and “Christine” notched season high numbers.

NBC is hoping that upward trend continues when its Thursday night comedy block returns with new episodes April 10. Behind Emmy-winning sitcoms “30 Rock” and “The Office,” and tried-and-true bookends “My Name Is Earl” (which returns April 3) and “Scrubs,” The Peacock will look to attract viewers joke-deprived by the strike.

The Sentinel offers a primer on NBC’s “Must See TV” lineup, the premier night of comedy.

“My Name Is Earl”

Where we left off: Earl is lying in the middle of the road after being hit by a car. The car’s driver? Earl’s new flame Billie (guest star Alyssa Milano). “My Name Is Earl” starts the second half of its season with a one-hour episode featuring Milano (“Charmed,” “Who’s the Boss?”), Paris Hilton, and Earl in a coma. While hospitalized, Earl’s dreams portray his life as a sitcom (ironically enough). In his fictionalized vision, Earl finds himself married to Billie and living a “Leave It To Beaver”-style life. The on-screen romance sits just fine with “Earl” star Jason Lee. “Yeah. Well, having had a huge, huge childhood crush on Alyssa Milano, it was very surreal meeting her and getting to work with her,” he said by phone Monday. “I was pretty fascinated with how kind of short she is. She said she’s 5’3” on a good day and, you know, I thought she was very cute. And she kind of definitely fulfilled those sort of – the vision I had as a kid of, you know, what it would be like to one day meet.” “Earl” helmer Greg Garcia is excited to see the reaction Hilton receives from fans. “Paris just came in for one day and did a quick little thing with us and really had a great sense of humor about herself and played herself. And I’m looking forward to the audience, you know, seeing her quick little cameo,” he said.

From “My Name Is Earl”: Alyssa Milano as Billie and Jason Lee as Earl (NBC Photo: Chris Haston)

Guest stars notwithstanding, “My Name Is Earl” has proven its worth through the chemistry of its cast, which includes Ethan Suplee as Earl’s brother, Randy, and Jaime Pressly as his ex-wife Joy.

“I just think Greg Garcia was smart in terms of casting who he cast,” Lee said. “Just one of those things that you know is going to work.”

“I think we’re all just kind of approachable, accessible people that like our jobs, and we’re not afraid to embarrass ourselves on film,” he said.

“30 Rock”

From “30 Rock”: Tina Fey as Liz Lemon, and Alec Baldwin
as Jack Donaghy (NBC Photo: Mitchell Haaseth)

When we come back: Liz (Tina Fey) may be pregnant; Jack (Alec Baldwin) has broken up with C.C. (guest star Edie Falco); Tracy (Tracy Morgan) is still Tracy.

While Baldwin, the perfect “Saturday Night Live” host, continues to shine in this behind-the-camera, pseudo “SNL,” it’s Fey whose star is shining brightest these days.

The former head writer for “SNL” was asked to host its first, post-strike show. She has a feature film coming out this spring in “Baby Mama.” And “30 Rock,” the show she writes for, stars in and produces, is the reigning Emmy winner for Outstanding Comedy Series.

Fey said her comedic inspiration comes from some of the genre’s timeless masters.

“ ‘The Larry Sanders Show’ was just one of the greatest TV shows ever, especially in terms of being about a similar topic to this show. I’m a big fan of ‘The Office,’ both the British and the American versions,” she said by phone on Tuesday. “I grew up on a lot of classic TV, too – ‘Mary Tyler Moore,’ ‘Bob Newhart,’ ‘Carol Burnett Show’ – all that kind of stuff.”

With more offers starting to come her way, Fey said she enjoys working on the small screen because “television, I think, is a great writer’s medium whereas movies are more the director’s medium and they kind of kick the writers off the set,” she said. “And so it’s very satisfying to write a show and within a few weeks have it shot. It’s also – it moves so much faster than movies, so you write it and pretty soon you’re doing a table read and shooting it, and editing it. And pretty soon it’s on TV.

“So it’s – doing a half hour is as close to doing a live show, like ‘SNL,’ as you can get.”

“The Office”

From “The Office”: (left to right) Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute, Jenna Fischer
as Pam Beesly, John Krasinski as Jim Halpert, BJ Novak as Ryan Howard,
(center) Steve Carell as Michael Scott. (NBC Photo: Justin Lubin)

Where we left off: Michael (Steve Carell) and Jan (Melora Hardin) battled Dunder Mifflin executives over her alleged wrongful termination; Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) were enjoying being a couple; Dwight (Rainn Wilson) was having problems with Angela (Angela Kinsey) as a result of stuffing her ailing cat into the freezer.

“The Office,” like its Thursday brethren, is unique in that it’s filmed in a single-camera format without a studio audience or a laugh track. In this capacity, each scene is just as vital as its actors.

Wilson, who plays loveable nuisance Dwight Schrute, said part of the problem with today’s sitcom is that multi-camera shows have fallen into complacency.

“I think the multi-camera sitcom format, as it kind of petered out over the last couple of years, may just – we’re sticking to a – kind of tried and true formula. And then the shows became more about the formula than about what the show was trying to say or trying to do. So it was more about a group of characters sitting in a common area,” he said by phone last Friday. “Kind of – we’ve set up some punchlines and kind of making fun of each other. And it just got tired and worn out.”

“The Office,” since its debut in 2005, has increased its number of viewers by more than 50 percent. In 2006, the show won the Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy, and last fall it began running in syndication.

While there’s no formula for comedy success, “Office” Executive Producer Greg Daniels said the key to his show’s accomplishment is “trying to be original and trying to be funny, and not being scared of … having some emotion in it or being real and taking the characters seriously.”

“Scrubs”

From “Scrubs”: Sarah Chalke as Elliot Reid, Zach Braff as John “J.D.” Dorian (NBC Photo: Trae Patton)

Where we left off: Dr. Kelso (Ken Jenkins) was in danger of losing his position as chief of medicine; J.D. (Zach Braff) continues to deal with fatherhood and relationships alongside his best friend Turk (Donald Faison) and pals Elliott (Sarah Chalke) and Carla (Judy Reyes). Despite being the night’s lowest rated comedy for NBC, “Scrubs” finds itself in an enviable position: Two networks are potentially interested in airing its eighth season this fall. When NBC all but announced season seven would be the show’s swan song, most cast and crew members were OK with that fate. There was one caveat, however, and that was a proper ending for the series. When the strike began, however, talks began to focus on whether or not “Scrubs” would return to the Thursday lineup when the writers returned. Since “Scrubs” is produced by Touchstone, a division of ABC, the current speculation is that the show will switch to the Alphabet Net to end its run next season. In the meantime, NBC has slated a new, pre-strike-produced episode to air on April 10. Beyond that, the network has shown a passive interest in the future of “Scrubs.”

“My Name is Earl” airs at 8 p.m. Thursdays on NBC (Ch. 2). It is followed by “30 Rock,” “The Office” and “Scrubs.”