The Return of Jezebel James

This week is premier week for the new Fox season. And I myself am looking forward to Back to You and Til Death tonight, and The Return of Jezebel James (naturally) in 4 months (we think). And Alan Pergament of the The Buffalo News remarks regarding the new Fox season:

Except for the reality success, “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” and a marriage comedy, “ ‘Til Death,” that it promoted to death, last year’s new shows failed to make the grade. That puts more pressure on this year’s new lineup of action and reality shows.

With regard to The Return of Jezebel James, he says:

You’ll Like It If: You enjoy watching unusual family dynamics, especially when the relatives have their hearts in the right places.

You’ll Hate It If: You hate name-dropping and inconceivable plot lines.

Outlook: It is cute, funny and adorable. But what will it do when the baby arrives?

Well… When the baby arrives, the story will go on. Because, as Alan notes, the show is not about the baby, it’s about unusual family dynamics. Because unusual family dynamics is Amy Sherman-Palladino’s storytelling specialty. And when a show is about relationships, it can go on forever.

But I’m getting off track. The question is whether Jezebel James will succeed. Critics have been on the fence. And some have been downright negative, especially with regard to the laugh track. Of course, since critics hate Jezebel James, that means show definitely has a chance.

Others have been more balanced, of course. Such as Matt Lynch of Collider.com today:

What’s good: It has f***ing Parker Posey. I would watch her do anything. [But to my knowledge Parker Posey does no f***ing. -TimK] She even made Blade: Trinity worth sitting through. The premise is a pretty unusual one for a sitcom, as well. The material here is more conventionally suited to an hour-long drama, but some pretty clever writing and strong performances might be able to elevate the show.

What’s not so good: I never really liked Gilmore Girls, and this suffers from some similar problems. The dialogue is way too on the nose, and it sometimes feels like Posey doesn’t have a lot of room to interpret the material and just act. I also don’t really care to see yet another sappy relationship serial about people facing mid-life issues.

Will it be a hit? I really can’t tell. I’d love to say yes, because I relish the chance to see Parker Posey every week, but I just don’t think the show is strong enough. Expect this to get bounced around the schedule a bit before FOX pulls the plug just before November sweeps.

Why do I call this balanced? Because despite his negative conclusion, all his so-called bad points are things that I (and millions of other viewers) love. Plus, he doesn’t seem to realize that it is currently scheduled to premier months after the November sweeps. Hard to appear clueful with a gaffe like that in the gaff.

The Death of the Sitcom?

Jezebel James is facing pressure from another quadrant as well. Because it seems to be harder and harder for sitcoms to succeed. And as Amy Sherman-Palladino noted in that same article:

Sitcoms are infinitely harder to do than hourlong shows. You’re putting on a one-act play every five days. You’ve got to do your work fast. The results have to come quickly. And if the sitcom is any good, the scenes are about something. That makes it even harder.

Ironically, the fact that Amy can say this with a straight face is proof that she is an expert. Indeed, she got her start writing for and producing Roseanne. The hour-long Gilmore Girls was actually a break from normality for her. All this makes it all the more likely she’ll be able to pull it off.

Still developing…

-TimK