Wow. Has it really been 10 years since Joey? While we’re in full-on 2014 fall TV preview mode around here, we’re taking a Throwback Thursday look at some of our reviews of shows from past seasons.
ALSO SEE: Fall TV shows 2014: New comedy series premiere dates, times and previews
While 2004 was an exceptional year for new drama series (among them are Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, CSI: NY, Desperate Housewives and Boston Legal), the new crop of comedies from 2004 were generally ill-conceived and poorly executed. The highest hopes were for Friends spinoff Joey, which did get a second-season renewal but was then canceled midway through Season 2. The expensive, highly touted CGI comedy Father of the Pride suffered from unfortunate circumstances and was doomed from the start. The WB’s Commando Nanny thankfully never even made it to air. And we thought that Jason Alexander’s Listen Up! might mark the end of the Seinfeld curse. It did not.
Here’s our 2004 fall TV comedy preview:
Joey
NBC
Stars: Matt LeBlanc, Drea de Matteo, Paulo Costanzo
Premieres: Sept. 9
Airs: Thursdays at 8pm
What’s it all about? Joey Tribbiani moves to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career, leaving behind his friends and reuniting with his hairdresser sister, Gina, and her 20-year-old rocket scientist son, Michael.
Rewind 11 years to when Frasier Crane was transplanted in Seattle, and you have a precedent for this show’s success. The keys to Frasier were: 1. The casting was impeccable, and 2. The lead character had ample room to evolve. The same can be said about Joey. Drea de Matteo — who may or may not be back when The Sopranos returns to HBO (“Some people still aren’t sure if I’m dead or alive; only [writer/producer] David Chase knows the answer to that question,” she says) — and Paulo Costanzo more than fulfill the casting requirement. And even though we’ve known him for 10 years, Joey was arguably the least developed character on Friends. Joey co-creator Shana Goldberg-Meehan says fleshing him out into a more multidimensional character will be the primary task. “He’s still Joey, but he’s going to grow. You’re going to see him hopefully achieve some career success, hopefully fall in love at some point down the line. And the goal is to keep him Joey, but more.” And more Joey means less Chandler, Monica, Ross, Rachel and Phoebe. None in fact, at least until the show establishes its own identity. But hey, who needs friends when you’ve got family?
Center of the Universe
CBS
Stars: John Goodman, Jean Smart, Ed Asner, Olympia Dukakis, Diedrich Bader, Melinda McGraw
Premieres: Sept. 22
Airs: Wednesdays at 9:30pm
What’s it all about? A married couple (Goodman and Smart) deals with the husband’s eccentric family. The danger in assembling such an established cast is that it only reminds viewers that each of these people has been in something better before. Ultimately, Center of the Universe is very middle of the road.
Rodney
ABC
Stars: Rodney Carrington, Jennifer Aspen, Amy Pietz, Nick Searcy
Premieres: Sept. 21
Airs: Tuesdays at 9:30pm
What’s it all about? A blue-collar family man in Oklahoma dreams of being a standup comedian. With Rodney joining My Wife and Kids, George Lopez and According to Jim in the lineup, ABC has apparently declared Tuesday wacky dad night. If you’re already watching the other three shows, there’s really no reason to click away from this one.
Commando Nanny
The WB
Stars: Philip Winchester, Gerald McRaney
Premieres: Sept. 17
Airs: Fridays at 8:30pm
What’s it all about? Unfortunately, the title says it all. Based on the life of Mark Burnett, an ex-commando becomes a Beverly Hills nanny. Viewers who tune in because of the Burnett connection will find out the hard way that reality — not comedy — is the Survivor/The Apprentice producer’s forte. Commando Nanny is the perfect ammo for critics who claim sitcoms are dead.
Second Time Around
UPN
Stars: Boris Kodjoe, Nicole Parker
Premieres: Sept. 20
Airs: Mondays at 9:30pm
What’s it all about? Like Rodney, Second Time Around’s best hope for survival is that it is so similar to the rest of its network’s lineup. At least the pairing of real-life couple Kodjoe and Parker provides an occasional spark.
Listen Up
CBS
Stars: Jason Alexander, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Wendy Makkena, Daniella Monet
Premieres: Sept. 20
Airs: Mondays at 8:30pm
What’s it all about? Newspaper columnist and sports TV talk show host Tony (Alexander) is overtly opinionated, which is great for his career but not so great when it comes to dealing with his wife and kids. Alexander carries what is one of the better new comedies, and it might mark the end of career “shrinkage” for former Seinfelders.
Father of the Pride
NBC
Stars: John Goodman, Cheryl Hines, Orlando Jones, Carl Reiner
Premieres: Aug. 31
Airs: Tuesdays at 9pm
What’s it all about? This not-for-kids CGI cartoon follows the offstage lives of the animals in Siegfried and Roy’s Las Vegas act. Conceived before Roy Horn’s near-fatal tiger attack, the show does have some teeth (if Roy’s real-life predicament doesn’t cloud the comedy). With the high cost of animation in both time and money, Pride could be an expensive mistake if it gets mauled in the ratings.
Complete Savages
ABC
Stars: Keith Carradine, Andrew Elden, Shaun Sipos, Erik von Detten
Premieres: Sept. 24
Airs: Fridays at 8:30pm
What’s it all about? Fireman Nick Savage (Carradine) and his five boys live like … well, savages … in a house that looks similar to that dump you rented in college. Lots of male bonding ensues as the dad teaches his boys about being men. Not sophisticated stuff by any means, but it’s nice to see TGIF get a long-overdue jolt of testosterone. Executive produced by Mel Gibson.
Drew Carey’s Green Screen Show
The WB
Stars: Drew Carey, Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, Greg Proops, et al.
Premieres: Sept. 16
Airs: Thursdays at 8:30pm
What’s it all about? It’s basically the improv comedy of Whose Line Is It Anyway? with a new dimension of a green screen behind the performers to add effects and animation to the skits. The Frog doesn’t need to worry about finding an audience, as Whose Line fans will automatically flock to this.
Wanda Does It
Comedy Central
Stars: Wanda Sykes, Tim Bagley
Premieres: Oct. 5
Airs: Tuesdays at 10:30pm
What’s it all about? Comedian Wanda Sykes takes on a bunch of real jobs outside show business with an “I can do that” attitude and often humorous results. In the premiere episode, she recalls a bad experience with turbulence on a recent flight and decides that she can easily learn to fly a plane. Future employment opportunities for Sykes include working in a Las Vegas casino, and later, when she gets rid of her car and then wants it back, she decides to learn the fine art of repossession. “I’m a licensed repossessor now,” Sykes says. “I know how to do it, and I actually went out and repossessed the car. [But] as a licensed repossessor, after we take your car, we have to go knock on your door and let you know that we have your car and ask for the keys to see if they will surrender the keys. And that’s not a good feeling when you’re in the hood knocking on Mr. Martinez’s door trying to get his keys after you have his ride hooked up outside. So that made me a little nervous, but the bulletproof vest kind of gave me a little more comfort level.”
Drawn Together
Comedy Central
Premieres: Oct. 27
Airs: Wednesdays at 10:30pm
What’s it all about? TV’s first animated reality series answers the question of what happens when eight completely different cartoon characters from various genres and styles live together and have their lives filmed for the world to see. Among the mismatched housemates are ’70s do-gooder Captain Hero, fairy-tale princess Clara, potty-mouthed pig Spanky Ham and Pokémon knockoff Ling-Ling. Reality TV has become so absurd that it doesn’t require parody anymore, but Drawn goes it one further by hilariously spoofing the beloved animated pals we grew up with, plus the freaky anime and Internet toons the kids are into these days.
Win some, lose some, Ryan Berenz.
Best. “About” Bio. Ever.