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Herc Finds CBS’ Pregnancy Sitcom, ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE, Laborious!!
I am – Hercules!!
A CBS sitcom from writer-producer Claudia Lonow (“The War at Home,” “Cashmere Mafia,” “Surviving Suburbia”), “Accidentally On Purpose” is about a 37-year-old San Francisco newspaper movie critic who finds herself impregnated by a twentysomething aspiring chef.
You could maybe call it “Cougar Town” if ABC didn’t have another sitcom by that name debuting in a few days.
Based on a memoir by Contra Costa Times film critic Mary F. Pols, it stars Jenna Elfman (“Dharma & Greg”), Jon Foster (“Life As We Know It,” “Windfall”) and Ashley Jensen (“Extras,” “Ugly Betty”).
Elfman told Julie Chen Wednesday that she actually is pregnant in real life and on purpose.
I found it to be typical sitcom swill, maybe a little funnier than “How I Met Your Mother” but not quite as funny as “Two and a Half Men.” Those are the two sitcoms it’s sandwiched between. I expect it to be another CBS sitcom fans of “How” and “Half” will love and another CBS sitcom hit I can’t imagine myself tuning into on a regular basis.
USA Today says:
… [Elfman] pushes too hard to squeeze laughs from a mirthless script and add color to a show that's numbingly nondescript. Were she just wasting her talent, it would be bad enough. She's misusing it, and that's worse. …
The Los Angeles Times says:
… First impressions count, and “Accidentally on Purpose,” the new Jenna Elfman comedy, begins with a poor one. … Everything in the pilot, written by executive producer Claudia Lonow, is a hair or three too strenuous; Billie has been knocked down to a few easy-to-grasp impulses, and almost all the other roles are filled by stereotypes -- Jensen's most wastefully -- in stereotypical relationships. Nevertheless, the premise is full of interesting possibilities about love and age and unconventional parenting. (So far it has been mostly about sex.) They are only possibilities from here, but they are there for the taking.
The Washington Post says:
… makes predictable stops and toots its horn gamely and so what if it chugs around in circles? … it painlessly kills some time, and it fills the gap between the shows that precede and follow it. It's a bridge, a conduit, a bland bit of linkage. It's certainly preferable to having a big blank gap there. And that's not nothing. Many's the show of which even that cannot be said.
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
… your standard old-school comedy with a laugh track … CBS can turn a lot of tired fluff into sitcom hits, so who knows about "Accidentally on Purpose"? There are laughs here and there, but mostly it's all so very familiar …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
… lands somewhere between "Bang" and "Men," at least as far as raciness is concerned. It's not as funny as either of those hits -- and certainly not as good a show as the superior "Bang" -- but it is more enjoyable than "Rules of Engagement," which returns at mid-season (unfortunately). …
The Newark Star Ledger says:
… the kind of lame and predictable sitcom that I would hope Elfman's TV counterpart at the paper would have the wisdom to pan, and pan hard. …
The Boston Herald says:
… deliberately humdrum. …
The Boston Globe says:
… The stereotypes in play on “Accidentally on Purpose’’ are flat, if harmless, from the get-go. Zack and his buddies are frat-boy video-gamers, one of whom uses Billie’s grandmother’s urn as a water pipe. Billie and her requisite pair of sex-and-the-city pals, one of whom, Olivia (Ashley Jensen), is the requisite lush, have requisite girl talk. … so contrived, you feel as though you’ve seen it already while you’re watching it for the first time. …
Variety says:
… Jenna Elfman remains charming enough, though she's morphed from the free-spirited Dharma into a more grounded and responsible movie critic (oxymoronic, yes) who beds a younger man -- yielding unintended consequences, if not much hilarity. The pilot is breezy enough, and there are solid supporting players, including Ashley Jensen and Grant Show. Those ingredients, however, are thus far more promising than what first comes out of the oven.…
The Hollywood Reporter says:
… an utterly predictable comedy (what, you don't think Zack and Billie will fall in love in Season 2, right after he starts dating another chick and Billie has an epiphany?) that's got a few fun lines. …
8:30 p.m. Monday. CBS.
From The Guy Who Wrote
The Making of Star Wars
And The Guy Who Wrote
Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays!!
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Everybody hates when characters in sitcoms get pregnant several seasons in... but is this the first time that a show annoys viewers right out of the gate with this bullshit? Please crash and burn.
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on Maury trying to find out who the father of their baby is. If you have to test 10 guys, and none of them are the daddy, then you are a ho. Oh, I guess this show is okay because it's only one guy, she knows who he is, and they're white.
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I always find it amazing that after like 10 years of Herc being the TV guy that he's never been fired. Other than Buffy, I can't even remember a show he's championed has been anything other than not good. So it doesn't surprise me at all that he doesn't like How I met Your Mother because Herc doesn't like good tv. Anybody know what kind of incriminating pictures he has of Harry that allows him to be the worst tv news person in history?
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is just about the worst thing on prime-time TV. Seriously, it is fucking terrible.
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...but even that would probably have fallen into Gary Unmarried territory. Here's hoping Carolla can find a vehicle on FX, HBO or Showtime.
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But how one earth can a show about shacking up with a chick you knocked up last more than one season? By season 2, whatever nominal novelty value the show had will be gone, and it'll just be your generic, cookie-cutter family sitcom.
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Is awesome. I'm trying to figure out why more people aren't watching this show, but it's got a 5th season, and that's all that really matters. I just think a lot of you are missing out if you haven't given the show a second chance.
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I kinda prefer the days when it was moreso about their drunken shenanigans and hookups. I feel like it was out of that where a lot of the cult following grew. Plus it had Lily and Marshall to balance it out and be the 'cute' object of attention, so it wasn't completely soulless. For some reason I just don't like the Robin/Barney pairing and how they would keep picking it up whenever but then dropping it and turning him back into a slut. Glad to have everyone back on it tonight though.
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Herc, we're all entitled to our own opinions, but saying that HIMYM is not funny makes me question yours. More accessible than 30 Rock (which I also love), it still takes risks with format and storytelling that other network sitcoms do not. I wish CBS had kept the hour block of HIMYM and Big Bang Theory though...that was a great, solid hour of comedy!
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She was hilarious/adorable in "Extras" and really needs something better than this to show what she can do. She would be great on any of NBC's Thursday night comedies.
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I agree with doubleh55, Waspo, and Crash115, How I Met Your Mother is incredibly funny and clever and underrated. How Herc can think Two and a Half Men is funnier is beyond me. And Accidentally on Purpose looks terrible. I used to like Jenna Elfman, until I found out she was a Scientologist.
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Herc, your taste is questionable at best, if you think a rote, stale, one-gag show like Two and a Half Men is funnier than a creative, well-written, fresh comedy like HIMYM. I get the feeling you've never watched it, and are tossing your insults at its viewers out of sheer snobbery.
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"... not quite as funny as “Two and a Half Men.” "Either you mixed those two up (accidentally or on purpose) or you've been watching them in Bizarro World because there is no way 2.5 Men is better than How I Met Your Mother (except in ratings and Emmy wins for best supporting actor). However, I saw CBS' preview of this new show and, from that, believe it does fall somewhere between the two. From what I saw, it is Knocked Up The Series. It may last the season, being on ABC they can afford to carry a weak show, but I don't hold out much hope for it.
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She is proof that being marginally attractive, acting "wacky", and being a Scientologist can make you the star of 3 unwatchable shitcoms. This woman hasn't seen funny since it puked on her chest midway through Dharma & Greg and walked out of the room to get a towel, but she still milks the same humor no matter the role, TV or film. And the real pain in the ass is that she's neither as fun to look at nor as daring as Jenny McCarthy, but she has slightly more acting skill so tv execs keep casting her hoping she won't suck this time around, and yet audiences keep trying to tell them the same thing - nobody wants to see Jenna Elfman for very long. I remember when I thought Lisa Kudrow's "Phoebe" was the most annoying character and therefore she was a 1-dimensional actress, then I saw her do other stuff and she actually had range - Jenna Elfman has tried other stuff and proved she has no range. Go away, Jenna Elfman, nobody wants to see you ruin another 22 minutes of television, and very few people want to see you naked.
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Its obvious Herc has watched maybe three episodes of HIMYM. You actually think 2 and a Half Men is funny?! HIMYM is easily top five when it comes to funniest shows on TV. It is a show that rewards you when you get to know the characters. Not like 30 Rock or Family Guy where any hack can tune in and laugh at random jokes with their shocking punchlines. Can you be any more predictable Herc?
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Still, I will admit that when it comes to cheap yuks, 2.5 Men might rack up more. But all in all, when it comes to inventive storytelling, characters that don't reset to their default configurations at the end of each episode, episodes and lines that stick with you for years afterward, and jokes as thoughtful as a Venn diagram of "Girls that are Breaking My Heart" and "Girls that Shake My Confidence Daily" (the intersection: Cecilia)--you know, the stuff that would sail over the heads of your standard disposable sitcom. HIMYM is a unique hybrid of the single-camera laugh-trackless sitcom's style with the three-camera, live-studio traditional sitcom.
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this is someone who thinks AIDS can be cured with vitamins and yoga. jesus fucking christ, just disappear already.
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Yeah, I said it.
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knows what he's talking about.
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Was watching it in small snippets and want to see it fail, miserably.
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I wouldn't bother to dump on it.
Come. Up. With. Something. New.
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Sep 22, 2009 1:56:42 AM CDT
HIMYM's "Lucky Penny" episode is the best 30 minutes of televisi
by pollaxt
...since the days of Seinfeld, followed closely by "Slap Bet"
I'm amazed that Herc, with his love for all things Whedon, chooses to come down on this show. It stars NPH and Hannigan, and has guest starred Denisof, Acker, Lenck, and Baccarin. Whedon's known for his serialistic storytelling, and HIMYM is the most serialistic sitcom in history. Often, there are jokes inserted that pays off episodes and seasons later. The joke about the goat in Ted's bathroom was made in season 1 and didn't pay off until season 4! Heck, the whole point of the show is a single arc.
People got all lathered over the message of "500 Days of Summer" (and it's a good film don't get me wrong) and that is what HIMYM has been telling for 5 years now. And it has so much heart, at its best more tender than the best if "The Office" or "Friends". Comparing that to the empty, mindless, carb-laden storytelling of "Two and a Half Men" and even "Big Bang Theory" (for all its quirks and geekdom)is a disgrace.
Herc has completely lost me. -
Whenever it's on I die a little inside. Hell, even the studio audience barely even laughs at that waste of air time. On the other end of the spectrum, Big Bang has to be the funniest current sitcom this side of Better Off Ted. I actually LOL at Big Bang. As for Jenna Elfman's new show... I'll pass. Jenna is cool, but the window closed when Dharma & Greg forgot they were in a SITCOM.
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I don't like HIMYM, either. For whatever reason, I've watched a handful of episodes and not found it to be funny. And I'm the age of the characters and should be the exact demographic.As for Two and a Half Men, it's a bad show with some funny one liners. But there's nothing there besides those lines. Most of which amount to, "Charlie's a disgusting sex addict."
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