Blogocentric Formulations

Just Shoot Me!

"Blog Harbor from The Talent Pond"  PROMPT (DAY 5): A lot of people are talking about the revival of the 90's sitcom ROSEANNE. What other 90's popular sitcoms would you like (or have preferred) to see brought back? Some ideas: The 70's Show. Friends, The Fresh Prince, Freaks and Geeks, King of the Hill, The Drew Carey Show, Ally McBeal, Married with Children. What others can you think of?

While I think my favorite 90s sitcoms were Friends, Cheers, and Frasier, with a combined total of 770 episodes it's pretty hard to argue that they didn't have a good run... and one could even make the argument that all of them in one way or another, said everything they had to say (sometimes several times over!). So for this challenge, I tried looking at 90s sitcoms that I really loved but where I felt like there's still room for them to tell more stories. Just Shoot Me! ran for seven seasons and (only) 171 episodes, and I think it could have easily gone for another hundred and been on par with the other three.

For those who aren't familiar with the series, Maya (Laura San Giacomo) is a hard-hitting serious journalist who, after being fired from yet another news job, is left with no other choice but to get a job at her father Jack's fashion magazine "Blush," where hijinks ensue with the eccentric and wealthy Jack (George Segal), his secretary Dennis (David Spade), the head photographer Elliot (Enrico Colantoni), and ex-model-turned-editor Nina (Wendy Malick).

The cast had amazing chemistry and this show had some of the most memorable and hilarious episodes of television I've ever seen. In the second season, there's an episode where Nina has an important radio interview to discuss serious feminist issues and she buys a word-a-day calendar to sound smarter... which Dennis and Elliot replace with a fake one so that she uses nonsensical words while trying to sound smart. When it first aired, I don't think I've ever laughed harder at an episode of television. There was also an episode in the third season where Dennis switches the cards on two of Elliot's birthday gifts, leading Elliot to believe that his buddy got him a video game system and his love interest Maya got him a box of kinky sex toys. You can imagine what happens when Maya (thinking he knows she was the one that bought the video game system), invites him over to "play" later that night.

The success of the show probably isn't a big surprise considering it was the brainchild of sitcom super-producer Steven Levitan (Modern Family, Wings, Fraiser, Men Behaving Badly, Stark Raving Mad, etc.), who, you know, seems to have a knack for situational comedy.

Other 90s sitcoms that were on my list of potentials for this prompt include: Home Improvement, Saved By The Bell, 3rd Rock From The Sun, The Drew Carey Show, NewsRadio, and the three listed above.