Okusama wa majo

Despite the presence of Ryoko Yonekura in the role as Arisa (Samantha), this is a fairly labored remake of what was a classic American sitcom. The problem is the episodes are 45 minutes long, when this kind of TV show is best suited for one half hour. Also, its not much of a comedy, its more like a drama full of very shrill people. Taizo Harada, who plays Arisa's husband Joji (Darren) is not very effective. You don't feel much chemistry between him and Ms. Yonejura. You have the Mrs. Kravitz character (not bad, but also too shrill) and Arisa's mom (Mari Natsuki), who is way too mean spirited. I know Agnes Moorehead's character was also, but Samantha stood up to her more. In this series, she wreaks havoc on their lives without abatement, mostly Joji at work. A very good concept in theory, not that good in practice. Its a shame, since there is some talent here and it is mostly wasted.