'Tis Lousy to Have Loved and Lost... : 2006-2007's TV Casualties Part 3

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Synopsis: Ted Danson plays a group therapist to a bunch of crazy whackos while dealing with his own difficult life, including an estranged wife (Jane Kaczmarek from "Malcolm in the Middle") who has just left him for Tom Wilson, a.k.a. Biff from "Back to the Future."

What Worked: This laugh track-free, improv-based comedy had a remarkably high quirk factor that ultimately led to its downfall. Surrounding himself with some of the best names in improvised comedy, this show worked its way into my better graces, despite some terrible sitcom-my subplots, by relying on the small idiosyncracies of the characters and not wacky madness at every turn. Each week we would learn more about Danson's core therapy group and why they are, in fact, all insane. The stand-out was the spunky Suzy Nakamura ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") who was an agoraphobe with little luck in love. The best episode focused on her home life, when upon meeting with her internet blind date and finding out it was a teenage boy (the son from "Sons & Daughters," to drop another improvised TV sitcom into the mix), she chooses to embrace him and his friends and bond over videogames and junk food.

The rest of the main group were interesting to watch, but what really made the show a haven for comedy nerds were the constant appearances by quasi-famous improv actors of whom you would have to have a working knowledge in order to realize why their mere appearance is enough to garner a few chuckles. This would include Jane Lynch and Judd Apatow (respectively a supporting character and the writer/director of "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"), Jonathan Katz ("Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist") and Toby Huss (while an accomplished comedian and voice-over artist in such shows as "Reno 911" and "King of the Hill," is probably best known to my readers as Stumpy on "Carnivale").

The show also gave me one of the biggest laughs of the year, when in the pilot Danson tries to get revenge on car salesman Tom Wilson by attempting to break his car windows with a golf club, only to find that the car's windows are too strong for his swing, resulting in him commenting something akin to "That's really a nice car."

What Didn't Work: I hate to say this, but Jane Kaczmarek. It's no secret that "Malcolm in the Middle" is one of my favorite comedies of all time, but she was completely wasted on this particular show. To go from Lois, uber-TV mother, to this shrill cipher was insulting to her talents.

Another member of the ensemble, Jere Burns ("Max Headroom"), was saddled with a completely terrible and unlikable character, a hot shot big wig with anger issues who would go so far as to fire an employee for beating his high score on a cell phone game. The character was a misstep, even during his scenes with a fellow group member with whom he was having an affair.

A couple times, the show lost some of its energy and a couple episodes seem like placeholders as a result. It bounced back, but I might have been the only one who noticed.

And, in retrospect, the show wasn't as funny as I thought it was when it was on.

Why Not Enough People Watched: Too quirky. Seriously. The general public like their Ted Danson in lame "Becker" reruns, not as a smart but complicated therapist, and to group him with a bunch of great improv actors just wasn't going to bring in the big numbers. It did gain a bit of ratings when put in the after-"Dancing-With-the-Stars" spot, but that never lasts more than a couple weeks in most instances. (Don't tell that to "Til Death," which only survived because it paired up with "AI" results a few times. Oh, and it was the only new Fox show of the 2006-2007 season that hadn't been canceled already.)

Overall Series: 7 (out of 10)

Final 2006-2007 Neilsen Rating: #65 (8.4 million viewers)

Fun Fact: Tom Wilson is now a semi-popular comedian, and his MySpace can be found here: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=95021732