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

HELP ME HELP YOU

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

Fall TV Wrap-Up (just in time for Chanukkah!)

As the new title of this site suggests, I am indeed a media whore. Since I started using Comcast's DVR near the end of last summer, I have, of course, been able to watch basically a shit-ton of television. I started off with my regular shows (which completely unintentionally had a FOX bias after I counted the number of shows I truly truly watch on the Big Four), but I didn't feel satisfied. I started building an interest in more and more shows, and that took on the form of mostly new shows to the 2005-2006 season. This way, I deduced, I could get the most out of each show since I was with each and every one for the very beginning and didn't have to join in a show already in progress, which would defeat the purpose of my personal TV-watching habits. When February 2006 rolled around, I found that I had literally watched every single new damn show on the major networks (yes, even Courting Alex) and had suddenly become a connoisseur and student of what worked with the general American public and what failed to last from one season to another (or less!).

There are, of course, certain exceptions. I found myself perturbed by what was making it and, more importantly, what was not. (Sons and Daughters, I will rue your demise for years.) On the flip side, there were shows introduced last season that I decided to discontinue on my Season Pass Manager, the most notable of which would be CBS' genuine hit military show The Unit (although I did record the most recent episode as the teaser tickled my fancy).

When I moved back up to the Bay Area, and now using DirecTV's precious TiVo machine, I took it upon myself to do the very same thing with the 2006-2007 television season, this time starting with every single new show right from the get-go. This excludes the two new CW shows (Runaway, which is already cancelled, and The Game) and one FOX game show that lasted all of one episode (The Rich List).

Now that it's nearly Christmas, I thought I'd weigh in very briefly on the shows and what I think of them. This does not involve talking about which are "On the Bubble" and which are in trouble or even cancelled, but merely a ranking of each of the 26 new shows I watched this season. With the exception of allegedly four episodes of 'Til Death that I missed, I have literally watched every episode of these shows that were available on network television. (This excludes the burn-off online episodes of such shows as Kidnapped and Vanished, two shows that just happened to be about the exact same damn thing. It also excludes two very very good cable shows, the fresh TBS sitcom My Boys and the terrifying Showtime serial killer show Dexter, both of which I highly recommend.)

I will say this about the new season: there is only one show that I consider absolutely unwatchable. Luckily, it's on "ABC Hiatus." (For those not in the know, an "ABC Hiatus" almost never ever ever ends.) There are few true stand-outs, but I'm still greatly impressed.

Without any further ado. (Note the tie for first place.)

Rankings for New Shows 2006-2007

1. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
1. Heroes
3. Day Break *
4. 30 Rock
5. Help Me Help You *
6. Friday Night Lights
7. Show Me The Money *
8. Justice *
9. Six Degrees *
10. Ugly Betty
11. Men in Trees
12. Jericho
13. Shark
14. Happy Hour *
15. Vanished *
16. Big Day
17. The Class
18. Smith *
19. Kidnapped *
20. 1 vs. 100
21. Standoff
22. Brothers and Sisters
23. 'Til Death
24. 3 Lbs. *
25. 20 Good Years *
26. The Nine *

* indicates either a cancelled show or one on "hiatus"