Production has begun on the second season of "What About Joan," the half-hour romantic comedy starring Academy Award-nominated actress Joan Cusack. The series airs TUESDAYS (8:30-9:00 p.m., ET) this fall on the ABC Television Network.
Shot in Chicago, the series focuses on the complexity and endurance of close friendships among women, as well as the challenging relationship between high school teacher Joan Gallagher (Ms. Cusack) and her investment banker boyfriend, Jake (Kyle Chandler), as they blunder toward intimacy while sharing their lives with a small circle of friends.
Madly in love with Joan, Kyle is helping her discover the best of who she is. At the same time Kyle's best friend, Steinie (Jeff Garlin), a bar manager, is attempting to show Kyle that there is a lighter side to life than the one his facts-and-figures mentality has allowed him to enjoy.
Joan also shares a strong bond with her best friend, Ruby (Tony Award-winner Donna Murphy) -- a psychiatrist and a bit of a diva with troubles of her own -- and enjoys the camaraderie of Mark (Wallace Langham), a fellow teacher, and Alice Adams (Kellie Shanygne Williams), a student teacher at the high school.
Joan Cusack stars as Joan Gallagher, Kyle Chandler as Jake, Wallace Langham as Mark, Donna Murphy as Dr. Ruby Stern, Kellie Shanygne Williams as Alice Adams and Jeff Garlin as Steinie.
Academy Award and Emmy-winner James L. Brooks, John Levenstein and Richard Sakai are executive producers of the series. Gwen Macsai is the creator and producer. Directing this season will be Emmy Award-winner Terry Hughes. "What About Joan" is a production of Gracie Films in association with Columbia TriStar Television. The series, which is taped before a studio audience in Chicago, premiered March 27, 2001.
LOS ANGELES (The Hollywood Reporter) --- There's shuffling in front of and behind the camera on the Columbia TriStar TV sitcom "What About Joan" as the show prepares for its first full season on ABC in the fall.
John Levenstein has been tapped as the new showrunner on the Joan Cusack starrer. Levenstein takes the reins from David Richardson, who is exiting the show and will focus on new development under his overall deal with Columbia TriStar TV, sources said.
Levenstein will serve as an executive producer on the show alongside co-creator James L. Brooks and Richard Sakai. Levenstein, whose TV credits include "The Geena Davis Show" and "The John Larroquette Show," inked an overall deal with Columbia TriStar in March (HR 3/14).
Meanwhile, actress Jessica Hecht, who played the title character's needy friend Betsy, will not return in the new season.
"Joan" bowed as a midseason entry in March to respectable ratings in the Tuesday 9:30 p.m. slot following "Dharma & Greg." The sitcom is set to move to the Tuesday 8:30 p.m. berth in the fall, again paired with "Dharma & Greg."
Tuesday May 15 3:18 PM ET
By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - ABC is cutting Regis Philbin to twice a week in the fall, adding new comedies with Jason Alexander and Jim Belushi and moving two established hit shows from their long-held time slots.
Meanwhile, the WB network is introducing eight new series in trying to regroup from the loss of two popular stars, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Shannen Doherty.
Both networks presented their fall schedules to advertisers on Tuesday.
After scheduling ``Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (news - web sites)'' four nights a week this season, ABC will reduce host Philbin's workload by half. The show has continued to be strong for ABC, but its audience has gotten significantly older, something advertisers usually frown upon.
A regular edition of ``Millionaire'' will air Mondays at 8 p.m. Eastern time. On Thursdays at 9 p.m., the game show will do stunt editions, with celebrities, couples and college students.
Lloyd Braun, ABC entertainment chief, said airing ``Millionaire'' so much this year enabled ABC to buy some time for its development process.
Three comedies that premiered in midseason - ``My Wife and Kids,'' ``What About Joan'' and ``The Job'' - all landed on ABC's fall schedule. Geena Davis' struggling comedy was axed, however.
Former ``Seinfeld'' actor Alexander will star in ``Bob Patterson,'' about a motivational speaker with self-esteem problems, and Belushi is in a family comedy called ``The Dad.''
ABC is uprooting newsmagazine ''20/20'' from Friday nights - annoying star Barbara Walters in the process - so the network can keep ``Once and Again'' on the schedule. The show will move, temporarily, to Wednesdays, then go off the air in November and return in December on Friday again.
ABC is also moving ``NYPD Blue (news - Y! TV)'' from Tuesday to Wednesday, where it will compete directly with NBC's popular ``Law and Order.'' Its old time slot will go to ``Philly,'' a new drama by ``NYPD Blue'' producer Steven Bochco, starring former ``NYPD Blue'' actress Kim Delaney.
Two highly anticipated series - the reality show ``The Runner'' and a courtroom drama starring Sally Field - have been held back until January.
Other new shows announced by ABC:
-``Alias,'' a drama by ``Felicity'' creator J.J. Abrams, about a woman just out of college who becomes a CIA (news - web sites) agent.
-``Thieves,'' a drama with ``Full House'' actor John Stamos leading a group of high-tech criminals.
The WB introduced its first schedule after the exodus of ``Buffy the Vampire Slayer.'' The drama, starring Gellar, jumped to the rival UPN network when the WB balked at a high renewal price.
Perhaps frightened by the experience, the WB announced multiyear commitments Tuesday for four of its most popular series: ''7th Heaven,'' ``Dawson's Creek (news - Y! TV),'' ``Charmed'' and ``Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.''
``Charmed'' has a three-year deal even though one of its stars, Doherty, quit this week. The WB still has no replacement.
The network is moving its critically praised drama, ``Gilmore Girls (news - Y! TV),'' into the Tuesday time slot vacated by ``Buffy.'' It's keeping the ``Buffy'' spinoff series, ``Angel,'' and moving it to Mondays.
The WB is adding three family-friendly comedies to its Friday night schedule, including one starring country singer Reba McEntire and another with Bob Saget.
``TV is a cyclical business,'' said WB entertainment chief Susanne Daniels, ``and we think the time is right for comedies.''
``Roswell,'' ``The PJs,'' ``Popular,'' ``Grosse Pointe,'' ``Jack & Jill'' and ``The Jamie Foxx Show'' were all canceled.
The WB's new shows:
-``Lost in the USA,'' a reality series about four teams sent on a cross-country scavenger hunt.
-``Men, Women & Dogs,'' a comedy about four men in their 20s whose lives revolve around their girlfriends, their careers and their dogs.
-``Off Centre,'' a comedy from the creators of ``American Pie,'' about two former roommates at Oxford who move into a luxury apartment in New York.
-``Smallville,'' an action drama about a teen-aged Clark Kent dropped into a small town by a meteor shower.
-``Elimidate Deluxe,'' a reality series where a single must choose among four potential dates.
-``Maybe I'm Adopted,'' a comedy centered on a 15-year-old girl and her family, featuring Fred Willard and Julia Sweeney.
-``Deep in the Heart'' stars McEntire as the mother of a Texas family dealing with her family crumbling around her.
-``Raising Dad,'' stars Saget as a widower and high school teacher with two daughters.
Tuesday May 15 06:54 PM EDT
ABC Fall Lineup: "Not Just Regis!"
Looks like Barbara Walters and Regis Philbin will be getting a little extra vacation time this fall. ABC announced a significantly less Reege-dependent fall lineup Tuesday, as its 2001-02 season will reduce Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (news - web sites) from four nights a week to two nights, and long-running news magazine 20/20 will get shuffled in a controversial move aimed at keeping Once and Again on the schedule.
Meanwhile, Seinfeld vet Jason Alexander will make his return to TV as a motivational speaker, Jim Belushi will star in a family comedy and John Stamos will appear in a Friday night thriller competing (as fate would have it) head-to-head against fellow Full House alum Bob Saget--who's starring in his own show for the WB on Fridays.
Which leaves us with one question: Where's Dave Coulier when you need him? (Quick, somebody check CBS' fall lineup.)
Disappearing from ABC's schedule are The Geena Davis Show, Gideon's Crossing (news - Y! TV), Two Guys and a Girl and Norm. The network instead decided to put its faith in three promising midseason comedy replacements, What About Joan, The Job and My Wife and Kids.
But the network has made the biggest waves over its decision to yank 20/20 from Fridays at 10 p.m. (its home since 1987) in favor of giving critical fave Once and Again another shot to build on its audience.
The news mag will start the season on Wednesdays at 10 p.m., but will then get pulled when NYPD Blue (news - Y! TV) debuts for November sweeps. Walters and company will then sit on the bench until returning to Fridays in December.
"Is it a surprise? Yes," Walters told Inside.com. "Is it a hit? Yes. Is it a terrible hit? No."
Is Once and Again ever going to be a hit? We'll find out.
Other notable moves: As expected, ABC is moving Dharma & Greg to a less competitive time slot, Tuesdays at 8 p.m. And Thursday will remain unchanged (save for that "Special Edition" tag plopped at the end of Millionaire's title), with Whose Line Is It Anyway? doing double duty at 8 p.m.
Meantime, here's a brief look at ABC's new shows:
As for ABC's midseason slate, the network will debut its much-hyped reality series The Runner on Mondays at 9 p.m. starting in January. The fugitive-style series, from Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, will feature a "runner" vying for a $1 million prize, who must accomplish eight missions without getting "tagged" by viewers.
Also planned for midseason: The Court, also debuting in January, features the return of Sally Field to series TV as a Supreme Court Justice in a drama about the High Court's legal clerks.
Finally, seeing as James Cameron doesn't have any Mars trips planned in the immediate future, he might as well head underwater. The Titanic director is teaming up with Jean-Michel Cousteau for Ocean Challenge, a series of undersea exploration specials that will show up on ABC's schedule next season.
The following is a night-by-night look at the network's fall schedule:
ABC's Schedule for the Fall
Tuesday May 15 3:19 PM ET
ABC's prime-time schedule for the fall, announced by the network Tuesday:
MONDAY
8 p.m. - ``Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (news - web sites)''
9 p.m. - ``Monday Night Football''
TUESDAY
8 p.m. - ``Dharma & Greg''
8:30 p.m. - ``What About Joan''
9 p.m. - ``Bob Patterson''
9:30 p.m. - ``Spin City (news - Y! TV)''
10 p.m. - ``Philly''
WEDNESDAY
8 p.m. - ``My Wife and Kids''
8:30 p.m. - ``The Dad''
9 p.m. - ``The Drew Carey Show''
9:30 p.m. - ``The Job''
10 p.m. - ''20/20'' until November, ``NYPD Blue (news - Y! TV)''
THURSDAY
8 p.m. - ``Whose Line is it Anyway?''
8:30 p.m. - ``Whose Line is it Anyway?''
9 p.m. - ``Who Wants to Be a Millionaire''
10 p.m. - ``PrimeTime Thursday''
FRIDAY
8 p.m. - ``The Mole''
9 p.m. - ``Thieves''
10 p.m. - ``Once and Again'' until December, ''20/20''
SATURDAY
8 p.m. - ``The ABC Big Picture Show''
SUNDAY
7 p.m. - ``The Wonderful World of Disney''
9 p.m. - ``Alias''
10 p.m. - ``The Practice (news - Y! TV)''
Comedies helping ABC rebound at midseason
For ABC's new prime-time shows, the TV season can be summed up in the daylight-saving-time phrase: spring forward, fall back.
After poor performances by its four fall premieres, ABC has sprung forward with three midseason comedies that have attracted larger audiences (My Wife and Kids and What About Joan) and better critical reviews (The Job).
Of the three, only Damon Wayans' My Wife and Kids is performing especially strongly, but ABC has reasons to be pleased with all three programs, says TN Media analyst Stacey Lynn Koerner.
The midseason premieres weren't just fill-in shows, dropped into the schedule after other shows failed. The network planned from the start to introduce My Wife and Kids and The Job in the spring (Joan, a sitcom starring Joan Cusack, wasn't ready until March), ABC Entertainment co-chairman Lloyd Braun says.
"We thought these shows had great potential and could be more effectively premiered and nurtured at midseason," he says.
Although shows launched at the start of the TV season get most of the attention, shows that premiere at midseason enjoy advantages: fewer new shows with which to compete for viewer attention, a greater likelihood of reruns on other networks, and more promotional attention.
"There's much less clutter in the midseason (and) shows on the bubble toward the end of the year have a better shot at consideration," Koerner says.
A network also can give more than one show an audience boost by putting it after an established show. Both The Geena Davis Show and What About Joan premiered in the slot after Dharma & Greg, while Spin City, essentially a relaunch with new star Charlie Sheen, and Denis Leary's The Job enjoyed audience flow from The Drew Carey Show.
The premiere of a fourth midseason show, The Beast, has been pushed back until June, hardly an auspicious sign for the new drama.
My Wife and Kids has scored the network's highest ratings in three years in the 8 p.m. Wednesday time slot. A second episode, run at 8:30, has drawn even more viewers, including a large number in the coveted 18-49 demographic.
Despite some softened ratings in recent weeks, What About Joan has performed better than Geena. ABC is planning to extend Joan's six-week spring run an additional three weeks during May sweeps, a good sign for the program.
"The Job is more uncertain. It really hasn't been doing that well" in the ratings, Koerner says. "But I think (ABC) likes it in the same way they liked Sports Night. (Renewal) depends on how their development looks" for the fall.
Last fall, ABC introduced only four shows — one drama, Gideon's Crossing, and three comedies, Geena, Madigan Men and The Trouble With Normal - far fewer than its main competitors. Gideon's Crossing and Geena haven't done well in the ratings, and the other two comedies have been canceled.
ABC has earned criticism for that performance and for scheduling Who Wants to Be a Millionaire on four nights, but Braun says people should consider the overall season strategy and the seven new shows, not just the four fall premieres.
Three of seven are working, which is a good yield, he says, although he will not say whether any of the new ones will be back in the fall.
Last summer, "we kept talking about wanting to hold on to shows and premiere them over the course of the season. Millionaire gave us the luxury to do that," Braun says. "If we had premiered all the shows in the fall, we would have been less successful."
ABC Sweeping "Joan" into May
The production order was for 13 episodes. Sources said ABC will now run original episodes of the show starring Joan Cusack during the remaining three weeks of the May sweep and hold the other four unaired episodes for the fall. In its first four outings, "Joan" averaged a solid 12.6 million viewers and a 5.6 rating/14 share in the key adults 18-49 demographic.
The sitcom survived competition from special airings of Fox's "Boot Camp" and NBC's new game show "Weakest Link." The show, executive produced by Brooks, David Richardson and Richard Sakai, built on its "Dharma" lead-in during three of its four airings.
By The Hollywood Reporter
Published: April 19, 2001
CHANDLER FINDS CHICAGO IS HIS KIND OF TOWN FOR ROLES
By Allan Johnson Tribune television reporterApril 3, 2001
It looks as if nothing has changed for Kyle Chandler, formerly of CBS' "Early Edition"-- except so much has.
He's sitting on a couch on a soundstage at Chicago Studio City on the city's West Side, his home away from home for more than five years. He's waiting between scenes looking very much in character as "Early" hero Gary Hobson: a turtleneck and jeans, with a few days' worth of stubble on his face.
He's even reading a certain tabloid Chicago newspaper.
The thing is, Chandler isn't waiting to film a scene of his series about Hobson, a man who gets the next day's issue of that same tabloid a day in advance, allowing him to alter the future. He's waiting to tape a scene for the new ABC situation comedy "What About Joan," starring Chicago's Joan Cusack.
In fact, the series is shot one soundstage away from where Chandler made "Edition." Many who worked on his show are performing the same tasks on Cusack's series, too.
Chandler has, in effect, become a working actor in Chicago, but one with the good fortune of going from one network series to another while barely missing a beat.
"It's very much like I had a hiatus and that was it," Chandler says. "Except that this is a completely different format."
Chandler was born in Buffalo, but grew up in north suburban Lake Forest, moving with his family to Georgia when he was 11 years old.
"The longer I'm in Chicago, the longer I have a job," says Chandler, who lives on Chicago's North Side with his wife and daughter.
It looks as if Chandler may have a job here for a little while longer.
"What About Joan" (Tuesdays, 8:30 p.m., WLS-Ch. 7) had a promising debut last week, averaging almost 15 million viewers and beating NBC's "Three Sisters."
In addition to being ABC's most-watched mid-season premiere in three years, the comedy had more people tuning in than its lead-in, "Dharma & Greg."
Chandler, 35, is no doubt enjoying the initial success of the romantic comedy, where he plays the banker boyfriend of Cusack's high school teacher.
"You've got [executive producer] Jim Brooks and everyone he surrounds himself with," Chandler notes, "and you're working with Joan as well. She's one of the greats, as far as I'm concerned."
"Early Edition" completed its fourth season on CBS last year, and Chandler was only off for a few months before he got the call for "Joan." As far as he is concerned, working on "Early Edition" was a good learning experience, but it was enough.
"Now that it's done, it was a lot of work, it was a lot of work," says Chandler, who spent the last season as a producer and also directed an episode.
"Four years is a long time doing that," he explains. "A regular day, you can get up at 6 [a.m.] to be at work around 8 [a.m.] and you start working. You wouldn't go home until dark. And then Friday nights, you shoot, so you got a day and a half on weekends. It was really hard work. It was also a lot of fun. It was great training."
Chandler is now getting some new training on "Joan," his first sitcom after years of movies such as "Homecoming" and "Tour of Duty" and TV movies including "Home Fires Burning" and "Unconquered."
"This is a completely different monster. It's fun, though. I've liked every process and everything I've done in this industry so far, and this is no difference.
"When you're doing the drama, you work on the material and everything, and you get out there and you do it, and you do it over and over and over, on film. Here, everything's very fast. It's like `Flight of the Bumblebee's' always playing in your head."
Chandler feels as though he's in the theater because of the live studio audience, which he calls "the calvary" because they serve as the barometer for what jokes work.
But Chandler admits he has a lot to learn:
"The first day we were shooting, I have a scene where I was standing offstage before I walked onto the set," he says. "And I said to the director, `Where do I stand, the audience is going to see me here?' And he's like, `What?' I was almost talking to him like he was an idiot. . . .
"He's like, `Kyle, it's a TV show, we're shooting it.' I'm like, oh, yeah!'"
Good show: In all, it has been a decent mid-season for ABC. In addition to the performance of "What About Joan," the new Damon Wayans comedy "My Wife and Kids" premiered as the No. 1 show in its Wednesday 7 p.m. time slot last week, with an average of 13.7 million viewers.
As a result, the network, as it did last week, is showing two episodes back-to-back Wednesday, starting at 7 p.m. on Ch. 7.
Meanwhile, the third new ABC comedy, "The Job" starring Denis Leary, lost only 1 percent of its audience from the week before last Wednesday, attracting 9.7 million viewers. However, it's going to have to do as least as good as "Joan" and "Kids" if it expects to have a chance of returning next season on comedy-starved ABC.
What About Joan (Tues. (27), 9:30-10:00 p.m., ABC)
By Steven Oxman
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - It's been a tough season thus far for star-driven sitcoms, and sitcoms in general, a fact ABC hopes to remedy with its midseason Joan Cusack vehicle, ``What About Joan.''
An endearing performer whose quirks always seem to fit perfectly the character she's playing, Cusack is naturally funny, which is a gigantic asset for a first-time sitcom star. In the first two episodes, she amply demonstrates her pleasing charms, which makes this show particularly promising. Its ability to sustain what it has rather ambitiously set up, though, remains exceedingly unpredictable, given that outside of Cusack herself, the show doesn't have a whole lot of personality. Fortunately, ``What About Joan'' may not need more than Joan.
Cusack plays Joan Gallagher, a schoolteacher who considers herself ``low maintenance,'' the kind of person more likely to offer counsel than to need it, although she does have psychiatrist Ruby (Donna Murphy) as a best friend, just in case.
Joan is also confidante to her needier pal and colleague Betsy (Jessica Hecht), who has co-dependent written all over her as she allows boyfriend Mark (Wallace Langham) to treat her shabbily and deny their relationship in public despite the fact that they've been dating for years.
Joan's self-sufficiency is tested in the pilot episode when Jake (Kyle Chandler of ``Early Edition'' fame), the very nice, handsome and possibly perfect man she's been dating for six weeks, suddenly proposes to her.
Creator Gwen Macsai presents the premise that Joan must confront the possibility of having everything she thought she wanted in life, which sends her into a panic attack. All her bubbling neuroses rush to the surface, as she self-consciously analyzes everything about her situation and everything she says and does before she says and does it.
This idea puts forth some strong, character-driven comedy, and Cusack, letting herself go under Michael Lembeck's direction, is certainly up to the task of making Joan complex, charismatic and likable. In all her film performances, she makes us root for her, and she accomplishes that here as well as she makes us laugh with her pained antics.
But there's a structural question mark hanging over this show. All series must set up a few basic conflicts that can be played out again and again, and can hopefully develop and grow over time. In ``What About Joan,'' the primary conflict comes from within Joan herself -- she wants to be happy, but can't seem to allow herself to be.
In the second episode, for example, she insists on pushing Jake to admit that she's not the best sexual partner he's ever had, which sends her into another anxiety attack. This gives Cusack plenty of opportunities to shine but may be especially difficult to sustain.
After just two episodes, Joan is verging on replacing the normal but antsy character she probably envisioned with a neurotic one. If the producers feel the need for her to keep topping her nervous breakdowns, this could potentially go over the top in a hurry.
As is, there's not too much else to rely on. Chandler is ideally cast as a genuinely nice guy who genuinely loves Joan and genuinely wants to enjoy his time with her without over-analyzing it. He's the plain vanilla to Joan's rocky road, and as such, he's a good foil for Joan more than an especially entertaining character.
That's OK, but the writers will need to find comic support in the rest of the cast, which is a talented ensemble but will need to give more convincing shape to their somewhat contrived personas.
The second episode has the confident Ruby attempting to help Betsy by talking to Mark on her behalf, which only causes Mark to start obsessing on Ruby. The idea is clever, but the execution is dry.
The show also introduces a teaching assistant for Joan in the form of down-to-earth Alice Adams (Kellie Shanygne Williams). The workplace element of the show will likely become more prominent in future episodes.
The show is shot in Chicago, which doesn't yet give it any particularly unique feel. Tech credits are strong.
Joan Gallagher .... Joan Cusack Jake .............. Kyle Chandler Betsy ............. Jessica Hecht Dr. Ruby Stern .... Donna Murphy Alice Adams ....... Kellie Shanygne Williams Mark .............. Wallace Langham
Filmed in Chicago by Gracie Films in association with Columbia TriStar Television. Executive producers, James L. Brooks, David Richardson, Richard Sakai; producer, Gwen Macsai; director, Michael Lembeck; writer, Macsai; camera, Alan Keath Walker; production designer, Stephen Lineweaver; editor, Robert Bramwell; original theme, Hans Zimmer; music, James S. Levine; casting, Mali Finn (L.A.), Claire Simon, Lindsey Hayes (Chicago).
Reuters/Variety REUTERS
'What About Joan' Connects with Audience
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Audiences tuned in Tuesday night (March 27) to find "What About Joan." The new ABC comedy debuted as the No. 1 program of the night in Adults 18-49 (6.8 ratings/ 16 share), representing the network's most watched midseason premiere in three years and the strongest Adults 18-49 rating debut in two years.
Pulling 15 million viewers at 9:30 p.m., "Joan" was the first series to build upon a "Dharma & Greg" lead-in audience (14.0 million) in total viewers, according to Nielsen's fast national ratings. The new comedy dominated its timeslot in viewership, leading NBC's "Three Sisters" by over 4 million viewers.
"What About Joan" stars Joan Cusack and Kyle Chandler ("Early Edition") in a romantic comedy about relationships
'Joan'-ie on the Spot:
She's a Hit
by David Bianculli
WHAT ABOUT JOAN. Tonight at 9:30, ABC
When the name of James L. Brooks is attached to a TV project, you can count on two or three things. First, it'll be populated by a comedic cast of unusual range and depth. Second, it'll make you laugh. And third, if it's a sitcom with a laugh track, you'll hear him laugh.
"What About Joan," the new ABC sitcom premiering tonight at 9:30, delivers on all three counts. It also proves, by the way, that the old-style sitcom is alive and well, thanks, so long as there are talented people on both sides of the camera.
Joan Cusak (r.) and Kyle Chandler star in 'What About Joan?' Starring in "What About Joan" are Joan Cusack as the central character, a Chicago schoolteacher with major commitment issues; Donna Murphy as her psychiatrist friend; Jessica Hecht, Wallace Langham and Kellie ShanygneWilliams as Joan's school colleagues, and Kyle Chandler as Jake, her clearly smitten boyfriend.
Tonight's premiere, and next week's episode, provide plenty of situations for the various players to establish their characters and room enough to strut their stuff. It's a major-league group all the way, too.
Murphy, who won a Tony for her role in Stephen Sondheim's "Passion," plays her authoritative character at a perfect pitch in every scene (if she met Frasier, she'd spit him out and leave him for dead).
Hecht, who plays the lesbian lover of Ross' ex-wife on "Friends," has the amiably zany thing down, even when Langham (from "The Larry Sanders Show" and, less impressively, "Veronica's Closet"), as her low-key boyfriend, acts a bit too broadly.
Williams, who played the object of Urkel's desire on "Family Matters," segues to a more mature role here — and nails her character instantly and consistently.
Chandler, the charmer from "Early Edition" and "Homefront," gets to be comical as well as sensitive, and is good at both.
As for Cusack, who was so riotously frazzled as Kevin Kline's bride-to-be in "In & Out," she slips into the sitcom format every bit as as comfortably as Bette Midler didn't. The off-kilter way she delivers her lines, or executes some bits of physical comedy, generates laugh-out-loud responses — even from Brooks, who can be heard braying from the wings at certain bits of funny business.
You may well remember the laugh from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Taxi," "The Associates" or "The Tracey Ullman Show," other live-action comedies with Brooks as co-executive producer — and all with superb comic casts and collaborators.
On "What About Joan," Brooks serves with fellow "The Simpsons" colleagues David Richardson (also of "Malcolm in the Middle") and Richard Sakai. The series' creator is Gwen Macsai, who wrote and produced the pilot.
It's a group, and a show, well worth keeping an eye on.
Original Publication Date: 3/27/01
KYLE CHANDLER
By Cheryl Lavin
March 18, 2001
Birth date: Sept. 17, 1965.
Birthplace: Buffalo.
Occupation: Actor.
Current home: I'm going between places.
Marital status: Married for six years to Kathryn Chandler.
Car: A 1975 bronze Buick Centurion convertible.
Working on: I play Jake, Joan Cusack's boyfriend, on her new show starting March 27 on ABC-TV.
Chicago connection: The show is being filmed in Chicago and my previous TV show, "Early Edition," which was on for four years, was also filmed here. I like Chicago because there's always someplace to explore and new things to find.
The books I've been reading: "Gates of Eden" by Ethan Coen and "Communion" by Whitley Streiber.
The last good movie I saw: "Ivan the Terrible: Part I." It's a Russian movie from the '40s.
Favorite meal: A couple of bottles of a heavy cabernet sauvignon, sticky cheese and apples.
Favorite performers: Evangelists and politicians.
Personal heroes: The people I hear about on the news who risk their lives for others or donate their time or money. There's a hero in everybody.
I'd give anything to meet: God Almighty. I'd like to share my favorite meal with him, and I'd let him do all the talking.
I'm better than anyone else when it comes to: Screwing up.
The one thing I can't stand: Intolerance.
If I could change one thing about myself: I'd have new body parts every 10 years.
My fantasy is: I get to do over all the things in my life that I regret.
My most humbling experience: My father's death.
The three words that best describe me: I asked my wife to help me with this, and she said she can't come up with anything you can print.
SERIES PREMIERE TUESDAY, MARCH 27 9:30/8:30c
Academy Award-nominated actress Joan Cusack stars in the new romantic comedy series What About Joan.
Cusack, starring in her first television comedy series, portrays Joan Gallagher, a high school teacher who depends on the daily support, counsel, and friendship of her two best friends -- Ruby (Donna Murphy), a psychiatrist, and Betsy (Jessica Hecht), a music teacher at the school. Although Ruby appears to be the picture of strength and stability, she allows herself to be taken advantage of by Betsy, who is locked into an on-again, off-again relationship with fellow teacher Mark (Wallace Langham). Joan also bonds with Alice Adams (Kellie Shanygne Williams), who is a new student teacher at the high school.
Shot entirely on location in Chicago, the series focuses on the private lives of an intimate group of high school teachers and explores the complexity and endurance of close friendships among women, as well as the challenging relationship between Joan and Jake (Kyle Chandler) -- two bright, independent, experienced people -- as they blunder toward intimacy.
What About Joan
ABC Tuesdays, 9:30-10 Premiere: March 27
Joan Cusack has played plenty of second bananas (Broadcast News, Working Girl), so ABC figured she should have her own show. Set in her real-life hometown of Chicago. Playing a real-life teacher. With real-life romantic problems. And you know what? It's just as boring as real life.
Joanie still gives it the ol' sitcom try. She's all mannered gusto and twitchy palms, like a big frolicking golden retriever. Making it worse, all of that sappy enthusiasm is surrounded by a humorless group, led by her bland girlfriend Jessica Hecht. Early Edition's Kyle Chandler--playing the earnest boyfriend--is a small glimmer of light, but he shoulda had the foresight to avoid this misstep. Even after the first few minutes, it's just hard to care much about Joan.
Also Starring: Kellie Shanygne Williams, Wallace Langham, Donna Murphy
Bottom Line: We can't condone this Joan alone.
Academy Award-nominated actress Joan Cusack ("In And Out," "Working Girl" ) stars as Joan Gallagher in the new romantic comedy series "What About Joan," premiering TUESDAY, MARCH 27 (9:30 -10:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network. Shot entirely on location in Chicago, the series focuses on the private lives of an intimate group of high school teachers, exploring the complexity and endurance of close friendships among women, as well as the challenging relationship between Joan and Jake (portrayed by Kyle Chandler, "Early Edition," "Homefront") -- two bright, independent, experienced people -- as they blunder toward intimacy.
Ms. Cusack, starring in her first television comedy series, portrays a high school teacher who depends on the daily support, counsel and friendship of her two best friends: Ruby, played by Tony Award-winner Donna Murphy ("The King and I," "Passion" ), who is a psychiatrist, and Betsy, played by Jessica Hecht ("Friends," "The Single Guy" ), who is a music teacher at the school. Although Ruby appears the picture of strength and stability, she still allows herself to be taken advantage of by Betsy who is locked into an on-again, off-again relationship with fellow teacher Mark, portrayed by Wallace Langham ("Veronica's Closet," "The Larry Sanders Show").
Joan also bonds with Alice Adams, played by Kellie Shanygne Williams ("Family Matters" ), who is a new student teacher at the high school.
In the premiere episode, "Pilot," Joan Gallagher receives the surprise of her life - representing both her fondest wish and her greatest anxiety -- when her new boyfriend, Jake, decides to sweep her off her feet. Joan goes into a full-blown anxiety attack when Jake unexpectedly gets serious, and she turns to Betsy and Ruby for their sage advice on her dilemma.
But after gauging Joan's reaction to his suggestion, Jake decides to turn the tables on her.
"What About Joan" stars Joan Cusack as Joan Gallagher, Kyle Chandler as Jake, Jessica Hecht as Betsy, Donna Murphy as Dr. Ruby Stern, Wallace Langham as Mark, Kellie Shanygne Williams as Alice Adams.
Guest starring are Greta Honold as Maya, Mitchell Fain as waiter, Maia Madison as waitress and Bruce Jarchow as Bob.
Academy and Emmy Award-winner James L. Brooks ("As Good As It Gets," "Jerry Maguire," "The Simpsons," "Terms of Endearment" ), David Richardson ("Malcolm in the Middle," "Phenom," "Manhattan AZ," "The Simpsons") and Richard Sakai ("As Good As It Gets," "Jerry Maguire," "The Simpsons") are executive producers of the series. Emmy Award-winner Michael Lembeck ("Friends," "Mad About You") directed "Pilot" from a script by series creator and producer Gwen Macsai. "What About Joan," which is filmed before a studio audience in Chicago, is a production of Gracie Films in association with Columbia TriStar Television. (CLOSED- CAPTIONED) (Broadcast in stereo where available)
by Phil Rosenthal, Television Critic
"What About Joan"--sans question mark, a la "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire"--has become the official title of Joan Cusack's Chicago-based ABC sitcom set to debut March 27 at 8:30 p.m. on WLS-Channel 7. We still think "The Sam Wilson Show" is a better name. No one listened.
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