The Return of Jezebel James - now canned

Patrick Sun · 03-14-2008, 06:25 PM

Fox premieres "The Return of Jezebel James" tonight in the 8 p.m. EDT timeslot (what a horrendous timeslot). There are 2 30-minute episodes on tonight, but I think going forward it'll just be one 30-minute episode until it finishes airing all the episodes, or until Fox pulls the plug on it if ratings are poor.

Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose play sisters in this comedy where the older sister can't conceive, so the younger sister gets a call up the majors in the surrogate baby carrying business.

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Patrick Sun · 03-14-2008, 09:59 PM

The pilot was pretty bad, and the laugh track made things worse. It didn't make me laugh even once. The less said about the pilot, the better.

The second episode "Frankenstein Baby" was much smoother, both in terms of dialogue pacing (and delivery) and the 2 lead actresses had a better handle on their characters.

Sadly, this timeslot will probably kill any chance of it finding its legs.

TravisR · 03-14-2008, 10:38 PM

I taped the two episodes and just checked them out and wasn't impressed. Just because I loved Amy Sherman-Palladino's work on Gilmore Girls, I'm willing to hang in and keep watching but I hope the show gets better fast. Based on what I've seen, I can't even remotely blame Fox for burying this show.

I think shooting the show like a traditional sitcom also hurt. If they had shot it like a drama, I think the dialogue would have played much better. Shooting it like a sitcom just made the dialogue seem fake and the god awful laugh track playing over it (or trying to get in between dialogue) made it even worse.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick Sun

...the laugh track made things worse.

Yeah it did. I'm sure this isn't a new thought but laugh tracks are insulting. It's like the network thinks I need a cue so I know when to laugh. I know when I find something funny.

TonyD · 03-16-2008, 12:21 AM

i have it recorded.
watched up to the section with the dr telling Posey she can't conceive.

"conceive what?" ugh, just bad dialog and posey nearly seems mentally disabled especially during the conceive what scene.

i know it should be her just showing denial but, again ugh.
i'm a big fan of Parker Posey so i hope this gets good.

Adam Lenhardt · 03-16-2008, 01:08 AM

I've only watched the (infamous?) pilot so far, but I really like it. The characters aren't terribly likeable, but there's something honest and truthful about Sarah's longing that moved me. I agree that it would have played better as an hour-long dramedy or even a half-hour one-camera series.

Hanson Yoo · 03-16-2008, 07:33 AM

Is this show acually taped before a live audience or is it a totally fake laugh track?

The performances are stiff and broadly theatrical. It's like community theater.

It kind of made me uncomfortable watching it. I think I might like it more if I saw it live.

Unless some earthshaking reviews or recommendations come in, I will discontinue recording this show.

RickGr · 03-16-2008, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hanson Yoo

Is this show acually taped before a live audience or is it a totally fake laugh track?

.

Even with a live audience most of these sitcoms have a big "LAUGH" sign they flash so it almost the same thing as a laugh track.

TonyD · 03-16-2008, 12:10 PM

a different house in the second ep, right?

what was the father doing with the plastic wrap on the vacuum.

TravisR · 03-16-2008, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt

The characters aren't terribly likeable...

Yeah, that was one of the things that I liked about the show actually.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hanson Yoo

Is this show acually taped before a live audience or is it a totally fake laugh track?

I could be wrong but it certainly sounded fake to me (and during the pilot, it was stepping on dialogue to my ears so the pilot was probably shot without a thought of using a laugh track). A live laugh track on an episode of Seinfeld sounds like real people with real reactions while this just sounded like [ROBOT VOICE]HAHAHAHA[/ROBOT VOICE].

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyD

a different house in the second ep, right?

Yeah it was. The house in the pilot was probably a real house. And if it wasn't, they either couldn't rebuild the house set for the series or they decided that the same old sitcom living room set would be better.

Aaron Silverman · 03-17-2008, 02:56 PM

The only remotely entertaining part of this show was the parents. Lord only knows how many people managed to stay tuned long enough to see them.

The dialogue was excruciating, especially Posey's. The characters weren't just unlikeable, they were annoying and boring.

Hanson's "community theater" crack was right on the money. It's a sad case of awkward writing delivered via awkward acting.

Adam Lenhardt · 03-17-2008, 06:16 PM

I actually liked the second episode alot less. Aside from the decision to change from a house that felt real to an apartment set that screamed four-camera soundstage, there was no emotional grounding to what transpired. In the pilot, the rebellous redhead was genuinely touched by the book series and agreed on the basis of that. In the second episode, we get Hello Kitty phones and "Why are you going through my stuff?" Cut out the work-related subplots (including her sexual liason) and the dialogue would have worked atleast as well had sisters had been 14 year olds.

Jason Seaver · 03-17-2008, 10:16 PM

Wow. When Parker Posey is not right for something, she is just completely not right for it. She got better in the second episode, but I couldn't help but wonder if Lauren Graham could have made those lines work (which is completely unfair, but there it is). I do like Lauren Ambrose and the parents, though it seems like they kept the two least watchable supporting characters from the pilot.