Susan

The one and only reason I ever tuned into this show was to see Judd Nelson on a regular basis. And on that point I was not disappointed. I found him to be charming and engaging and quite funny. And a pleasant surprise was the comedic abilities of the late David Strickland. He had an endearing quality combined with a knack for delivery. The glowing review ends there. Brooke Shields was hit and miss, with a strong emphasis on miss. She could be humorous at times, but it was usually due more to circumstance than her delivery or timing. Kathy Griffin's Vicky had an obnoxious nastiness that could wrangle a snicker out of me every now and again. But, Aundrea Benewald and Nestor Carbonell were forgettable window dressing for the most part. The last season was not pleasant and I think I only suffered through the season opener. I don't try and sit through any of the fourth season re-runs, even if nothing is on but infomercials.

This was never a wonderfully written program. In comparison to shows like Frasier, Friends, Seinfeld, even Mad About You, the plots, the jokes, were just thin. One good reason why is that the subplots never meshed with the plots.

For example, I just watched a rerun of one: the subplot is about the photographer taking pictures of Nana in order for Shields to present a portrait to her grandfather. Predictably, the photographs are far more racy than Shields expects. The main plot is about Griffin's jealousy over Shields' "sudden" success as a star player on Griffin's basketball team - the jealousy spills over into jealousy of Shields' beauty (and she responds that no one has life easy, being so tall, etc.). The plot has NOTHING to do with the subplot. They could have been put in different episodes - that's not very good writing.

For me, the reason for watching the program is to watch Brooke Shields -whose graciousness, modesty and essential sweetness come through in all she's done as an adult. (I was too old to be a fan in her "Endless Summer", "Blue Lagoon" days). More than any other actress, she has that Mary Tyler Moore character's humility, that eagerness to please. I would expect that she is always one of the most diligent actresses in any project.

When someone so beautiful is also so obviously this lovely seeming a person, one's in danger of losing one's heart. That's why I watched this fairly weak program. Shields deserves better writers - and she's really born to be a movie star, not one on television.

After watching reruns of Suddenly Susan over the last couple of months I got strangely addicted to it. I find myself really looking forward to the "new" old episodes every day. I don't usually fall for American sitcoms, I prefer British sense of humour, but I really got to like this show. I love the characters (especially those in the first three seasons), and unlike some other viewers who have commented on it, I think there is real chemistry between Susan and Jack. I also think that Luis is an excellent character.

Suddenly Susan is one of my wive's and my favorite series. It always makes us laugh out loud which is unusual of today's sitcoms. We are sorry we didn't discover it until it was on reruns. Of course, some humor is funnier than other and all is subject to the mood and personality of the viewer. In my opinion, Suddenly Susan stands head and shoulders over contemporary sitcoms and also has a little bit more heart than other shows which makes all the difference in the world.

I've always loved Brooke Shields, she had a wonderful and quick career as a movie star. I don't understand what happened, because she is even more talented and beautiful than she used to be when she made her best movies. Maybe she enjoy doing television or maybe they stop sending her good scripts. The show is great, very funny, interesting but it so below Brooke's competence, she could be so much more. I really miss her in the big screen, but I watch the show every week and I have a really great time...