Matchingmaking, God Talk & Kelly, Oh My!


Let’s get ready to rumble! The Friday night fights are on, with an incredible assortment of new series including two of the more charming shows out there. This season Friday is a war zone, and we all know somebody’s gonna fall, some sooner than others.

CBS’ much-touted idiosyncratic drama Joan of Arcadia, reminiscent in some ways to their long-time hit Touched by an Angel (but targeted at a younger demographic), premieres tonight at 8pm. Supposedly a reflection of some new national obsession for celebrating spirituality (this is new? The obsession is really with Hollywood TV producers; the public’s always been on board), Joan is a family drama which aims to please both traditionalists and those looking for a little more quirk in their religiosity. There’s certainly nothing wrong with a feel-good show, and with a likeable cast like this – Steenburgen, Mantegna, the pert young Amber Tamblyn – perhaps this is just the ticket for some heartfelt end-of-the-week reflection.

NBC throws the adorable Alicia Silverstone into the mix at 8pm with her new Miss/Match series, where she plays a new kind of snazzy female hyphenate, the Lawyer-Cupid. Obviously aimed at the womenfolk, yet having plenty of guy-appeal with the ever-cute Ms. Silverstone on tap, it’s probably not fair to make her duke it out with CBS’ Joan, but maybe there’s room for both of them.

New series-wise at 8:30pm, the comedy Like Family over on WB is back for its 2nd week, as is Luis over on Fox. At 9pm, daytime talk queen Kelly Ripa teams up with sitcom vet Faith Ford for the premiere of their wacky Hope and Faith skein on ABC. H and F will surely get a lot of channel-changers out of both Joan of Arcadia and Miss/Match, and of course let’s hope its own lead-in George Lopez (and Married to the Kellys come next week) does its job.

If you’re hankering for some crime drama on Friday nights at 10pm but haven’t gotten into NBC’s newly-moved Boomtown, you’ll want to check out CBS for the premiere of Joe Pantoliano’s The Handler. There’s certainly an issue to be tackled re: Joey’s ability to ingratiate himself into viewer’s hearts enough to make his series a true TV hit, but less-appealing and talented fellas have made the grade, so it feels like Friday at 10pm is going to be the time to put your Pants on.

What a glut of decent choices tonight! This night has the most interesting mix of personalities of any night, and I hope there’ll be a lot of recording going. The shows of Friday deserve sampling, and as always, let’s hope the networks let the slow-starters simmer a bit.

Oh, and if none of the above choices sound just right to you, I recommend checking out UPN at 8pm for a double dose of the ultra-goofy The Mullets, and stick around at 9pm for another chance to see the pilot for the cute science-fiction adventure series Jake 2.0. These shows normally air on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, and I kinda like them both.

Check out my Fall 2003 Network Premiere site for more information on all these shows.

 
Coupling – Compare and Contrast

An opportunity like this is too good to pass up! Watch the NBC premiere tonight of their version of Coupling at 9:27pm, then at 10pm turn over to BBC America to catch the UK original first episode “Flushed.” This is going to be like some kind of alternate universe portal thing – I mean, we get to see the American cast go through their paces in their pilot episode, and when they’re done we can get the very same show with different accents! I hope this astounding proximity doesn’t cause some kind of cosmic rift or anything, and if it looks more than a little like the classic good twin-evil twin rivalry, well, I’m wagering the folks from across the pond will end up to be the good guys.

I’m a big fan of the UK Coupling (see my column on it from May 11th here), and notwithstanding the sweet little note I got from creator Steven Moffat when he read my praises for his show, I’m just not sure that it’s going to work over here. And by work, I don’t mean in a ratings sense; NBC’s pretty much protected – and shown incredible faith in – the show by giving it the coveted and very important post-Friends and Will & Grace timeslot. It’s almost inconceivable that it won’t work for the viewers who are already into the NBC comedy groove on Thursday, although I’d never underestimate the ability of a viewer to pick up a remote and use it. This isn’t a numbers thing, we’re talking creative here.

What could go wrong in the translation of Coupling? There doesn’t seem to be a problem with the look of the cast; they’re all attractive and undoubtedly able performers. With the original British producers over here to supervise the U.S. version, we couldn’t expect any less. I especially liked Rena Sofer in SciFi’s The Chronicle a while back, and am hoping that Christopher Moynihan as Jeff is able to carry on Richard Coyle’s unique and absolutely-essential-to-the-show charm. Watch the original and you’ll see what I mean. Essential. Yes, he’s the crazy one and not the one the girls are supposed to pant over, but he’s the guy you love when it’s all over. Coupling without a strong Jeff would be…well, it’s unimaginable.

What am I worried about? You know, I think I’m mostly worried that Americans -- performers and viewers alike -- simply can’t handle sexually-related dialogue in a manner that’s off-handed and sophisticated enough to make it sound amusing and light rather than mildly distasteful, or worse, just there for shock value. That last reason is what occasioned so much of the initial buzz about the show, but fans of the original Coupling know that if the show were merely a collection a sexual innuendos, it wouldn’t be a favorite. The real challenge here is turning what’s essentially, at its best, vibrant British farce into American sitcom fare. Bottom line, Coupling --BBC style -- is funny, and the characters are appealing. If by some miracle NBC has managed to keep at least those two factors intact, this one could work.

But even if it doesn’t, we’ve got the original, and the best after-effect of all would be if more viewers discover BBC America in search of the real deal. Maybe it’s not as explicit as actual coupling, but cross-pollination can be a pretty sexy thing, too.

Coupling premieres on NBC tonight at 9:27pm (after a long Friends and a long Will & Grace; normally Scrubs will be in there, too). Check out the NBC show website for more info about the U.S. version of the show.

The original UK Coupling airs tonight at 10pm and lots of other times, too. Visit the BBC America Coupling website for all the scoop and airtime info.

My Coupling preview take from my Fall TV Schedule Analysis.

 
Respecting Ritter

Is ABC doing the right thing by going ahead with tonight's season preem of recently-deceased John Ritter’s sitcom 8 Simple Rules? All ethical and good taste considerations aside, their decision to go ahead and air the show is certainly on solid business ground, as evidenced by the night-winning performance last week of their Ritter tribute. What remains to be seen is how their plan to morph the series into a show about the family coping with life after the death of Ritter’s father character will fare. You can’t blame ABC for trying, although after the initial curiosity wears off Katey Sagal et al will have to make the concept work on its own. Everybody seems to realize that this was Ritter’s show; he made it a hit for ABC, and when a light like his goes out, cursing the darkness is probably the only realistic thing to do. Just maybe though, something unique -- half-humor, half-heartbreak – will be the result. Sagal is a veteran performer, with the chops to hopefully take this unfortunate opportunity and fashion a new TV family that would honor Ritter’s legacy.

And though it’s crass to talk about lead-in at a time like this, ABC’s bright new little comedy He’s With Her premieres tonight at 8:30p, getting the benefit of what surely will be a monster rating for 8 Simple Rules. If comedy isn’t your thing, tune into CBS at 8pm for NAVY CIS with the solid Mark Harmon, and then flip over to WB for the soulful teen drama One Tree Hill at 9pm. I’ll have reviews on these and more new series here very soon.