BACK TO YOU

From http://www.fox.com/backtoyou/showinfo/

STARRING KELSEY GRAMMER AND PATRICIA HEATON

In the '90s, the local TV news scene in Pittsburgh was dominated by one team: CHUCK DARLING (Kelsey Grammer, "Frasier," "Cheers") and KELLY CARR (Patricia Heaton, "Everybody Loves Raymond"). They had that elusive quality all news teams need: chemistry. at least on-screen. Off-screen, Chuck was a bit of a self-centered womanizer, Kelly a bit of an uptight know-it-all. So when Chuck got the call to move up to a larger market, no tears were shed.
But after an embarrassing on-air tirade ended up on the internet, Chuck found himself on the downswing career-wise. He even questioned whether his lifestyle of chasing women and living in hotels was as exciting as it used to be. So when he got the call to return to Pittsburgh, to reunite with Kelly and try to take the newscast back to No. 1, it was an offer he couldn't refuse.

Back in Pittsburgh, Chuck has a couple of new co-workers: RYAN CHURCH (Josh Gad), the overstressed news director and MONTANA DIAZ HERRERA (Ayda Field, "Studio 60"), the perky, sexy weather anchor. There are also familiar faces like MARSH McGINLEY (Fred Willard, "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," "Best In Show"), the affable, endlessly inappropriate sports anchor, and GARY CREZYZEWSKI, pronounced Kre-shoov-ski (Ty Burrell, "In Good Company," "Out of Practice"), the perennially put-upon field reporter who always seems to get left out in the snow. But, mostly, there's Kelly, now a single mom to 10-year-old GRACIE (Laura Marano, "Without a Trace"). There was magic between them once. Can they find it again?

Overall, I liked the show and think that it has a chance to work.

The show was good, though a lot of info was crammed in. They set up the situation ten years ago with Grammer leaving, Grammer's mishap in LA, Grammer's first day on the job and the fact that he had a love child with Patricia Heaton's character ten years ago from a one-night stand.

I watched it with my kids, and while I thought that it was a good show, there was a lot of sexual innuendo which is typical of a Hollywood sitcom. I mean, when you're dealing with an industry who hires twenty-somethings as the cream-of-the-crop, what do they know about life? Sex. So it's easy to write about. This means that I won't be watching it with my kids, even though most of it flies over their heads, I'm sure. More on that later.

Kelsey Grammer was the best part. His comic timing is still impeccable, and though he's playing a different character than Frasier, it's basically the same pompous type he plays so well. It's like Frasier with a womanizing attitude towards women.

Patricia Heaton was also great. She's a good, solid actress and was, in my opinion, one of the things that held EVERBODY LOVES RAYMOND together and made it a success.

Where the series would fail is through their 2-dimensional secondary characters. The joke is that the News Director (the guy in charge) is a nervous, bumbling 20-something who everyone takes advantage of. Field Reporter Gary is an aspiring achor who never makes it, in this episode stuck in a terrible rainstorm outside a courthouse trying to report on the trial of the day. The sexy Weather Girl Montana's character trait is to aspire to be so sexy the higher-ups would want to sleep with her, but no one's interested. Even though she's very sexy. And Grammer's character is a womanizer. Hmmmmm.

The bright spot is one of my favorite actors Fred Willard playing the Sports Anchor. He's great, as always, and transcends the 2-D writing.

We can hope that the series takes the path of FRASIER and CHEERS and fills out the secondary characters, otherwise I'm going to stop watching. But I will give it a chance.

-Erik

Comparisons with Frasier will always follow Kelsey around but I look forward to seeing it.

First of all - I have trouble judging sitcom by the pilot, even a pilot about mass media environment, which always attract my attention. Erik makes some good points here - certainly about the flat and cliche secondary characters and he's right about Willard as well. I also have trouble seeing Frasier and Debra fu... I mean, Kelsey Grammar and Patricia Heaton's characters dating, even for a brief moment. There must be many episodes after I overcome this The upside is, both leads are excellent at what they do. Just so far I don't see chemistry between them, but maybe it's too early for that.

Verdict is - I will be dow... I will be watching the rest of five episodes shot so far. Because I love Kelsey.

Oh yeah - thought the title was nice