Article published March 14, 2008
Look fast, sitcom fans: Poorly written 'Jezebel James' isn't likely to last long
By MIKE KELLY
SPECIAL TO THE BLADE
It sounds like a can't-miss formula for a successful sitcom, or at least as much of a sure thing as you're going to find on network television.
Start with the sharp and witty writing of Amy Sherman-Palladino, creator of the long-running, critically acclaimed drama-comedy series, Gilmore Girls.
Recruit as your leading ladies a couple of women with solid acting credentials. One is the versatile Parker Posey, whom Time magazine once dubbed "queen of the indies" for her success in a long string of low-budget, independent films, from Dazed and Confused to A Mighty Wind and Broken English.
The other is Lauren Ambrose, a young veteran of feature films and Broadway productions, but best known as the smart and sassy younger sister Claire in the darkly comical HBO series Six Feet Under.
Mix them together, and you come up with the new Fox comedy called The Return of Jezebel James, which premieres Friday at 8 p.m.
Unfortunately, the formula doesn't work nearly as well as you might expect, and as a result, Jezebel James is woefully short on both smarts and humor, and it seems destined to be nothing more than a forgettable blip on the TV radar screen.In the series, Posey plays Sarah, a ditzy but successful children's book editor in New York. She's in her late 30s, single, lives in a spacious loft apartment with a great view, and has a nice, no-strings-attached physical relationship with a handsome co-worker. All in all, she's pretty well satisfied with her life.
But with not-so-subtle prodding from her father, it begins to dawn on Sarah that she's not getting any younger, and one day - almost on a whim - she decides that it would be "nice to have a baby."
"I'm making money," she reasons, "and I have tons of room at my place."
So that means she should have a child? What, won't her apartment building allow pets?
Anyway, Sarah's plan hits a snag when medical tests reveal that she's infertile. When her doctor suggests that she consider adoption, Sarah's breezy dismissal of the idea - "I'm not the adoption type" - comes off as offensive rather than funny.
"What if it grows up and tries to kill me?" she says. "I mean, I kind of asked for it, right?"
Then, with a logic that exists only in the rarified air of TV sitcoms, Sarah moves on to Plan B, which is to track down her estranged younger sister Coco (Ambrose), whom she hasn't seen in a year, and convince her to be inseminated and carry Sarah's baby for her. Hey, so what if the grungy Coco has been living like a derelict for years, sleeping around, and ingesting who-knows-what substances? What better person to bear a healthy child?
Eventually, because she apparently has nothing better to do - or more likely because she's on drugs - Coco agrees to the outlandish proposal, which includes her moving in with Sarah for the duration of her pregnancy. So now the stage is set for a weekly dose of bickering between the odd-couple sisters. That's not a pleasant prospect, for many reasons.
Besides the fact that the entire premise of the series is vaguely disturbing, neither one of the main characters is particularly appealing. Posey, as likable as she's been in other roles, plays Sarah as a self-absorbed, over-caffeinated, neurotic mess. And Ambrose doesn't seem to be much of a comedic actress at all. Her Coco is basically the same caustic, grouchy character as her Claire was in Six Feet Under, only with sloppier clothes.
Like Gilmore Girls, Jezebel James features lots of rapid-fire banter, but it has neither the charm nor the sophistication of Sherman-Palladino's earlier series. And as if the show didn't have enough problems, somebody decided that it would be a good idea to add an annoying laugh track to it. Normally when that happens, it's an indication that the program can't manage to earn laughs on its own, and that's certainly the case here.
Oh, in case you were wondering who Jezebel James is and how she figures into things, that's the name of Coco's imaginary childhood friend, a character around which Sarah has created a series of children's books. So there's your link between the two sisters, who otherwise have approximately zilch in common.
The show's chances for survival aren't enhanced by the fact that it airs on Friday nights, traditionally the Death Star for network programming. But even if it followed Fox's ratings monster American Idol - which it was supposed to do before the network kicked it to Fridays - The Return of Jezebel James would have a slim chance of making it.
THE RETURN OF JEZEBEL JAMES: Sarah (Parker Posey, top) and Coco (Lauren Ambrose, bottom) have a surprise for their parents in THE RETURN OF JEZEBEL JAMES special one-hour premiere airing Friday, March 14 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. Cr: Eric Liebowitz/FOX 2008 Fox Broadcasting Co.
THE RETURN OF JEZEBEL JAMES: Sarah (Parker Posey, L), is a successful children's book editor who reconnects with her estranged and free-spirited younger sister Coco (Lauren Ambrose, R) in the new comedy THE RETURN OF JEZEBEL JAMES special one-hour premiere Friday, March 14 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. Cr: Michael Lavine/FOX 2007 Fox Broadcasting Co.
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