I was waiting around for your ...
Question: I was waiting around for your review of
The Return of Jezebel James and it never came! So what did you think? Personally, I had high hopes for this. Before the premiere it seemed it had everything going for it but the airtime: a great writer, an awesome cast and an interesting premise. But, alas, it seems I was dead wrong. The writing was awkward, the people all caricatures (aside from Scott Cohen, who was a breath of fresh air), and there was hardly any logic behind everyone's actions. The worst thing about it was the laugh track. Thirty seconds into the first episode when I heard that canned laughter, I cringed. I've never minded the laugh track in
How I Met Your Mother but in
Jezebel James it was incredibly obvious that it was canned laughter. The jokes weren't funny enough to warrant it, and it didn't even sound like the laugh track was that enthused. Really, it was just painful. The last 15 minutes of the second episode showed more promise than the 45 minutes that came before it, but I don't really think there will be much chance to develop that, given its time slot of death and lack of tough promotion. Have you seen any more episodes? Is there a reason for me to stick it out?
Answer: You must have missed my
review of Jezebel James, buried within the same column as my write-up on
Canterbury's Law. But we're pretty much on the same page. I didn't respond to this one at all, a real letdown given our residual affection for Amy Sherman-Palladino's previous work. I'm not a laugh-track snob, either, but in this case, it was distracting in part because the characters simply aren't that funny, and they certainly aren't very likable. Plus, the situation that brings the leads together isn't especially appealing. All in all, a dismal show in a dreadful time period adds up to: "What's next?"
