Les dessous de Veronica

OK, I don't know what all you people are talking about. The 3rd season of this sitcom SUCKED.

The first season, on the other hand, was brilliant - it was laugh-out-loud funny (a whole lot better than the boring, repetitive "Friends"), and it satirised the fashion industry and all its air-head models so...beautifully.

I never missed an episode. I would watch each one about 3 times until the following week's episode. But once Hunter came in and took over the company, I felt physically sick. "NO!" I thought. After that, the sitcom got worse and worse, what with the boring Alec Bilson (Ron Silver) and the excruciatingly unfunny 3rd season featuring the great June (one of the redeeming but under-used features of that season). I have not seen those "final-and-previously-unaired" episodes, as I lost interest in the show.

But I wish NBC would just take the show from the first season, before Hunter took over the company, and carry it on from there. Correct the mistakes; forget everything that happened afterwards, don't introduce anybody new (ALWAYS a mistake, in my opinion), keep the great characters of Veronica's dad Pat and ex-husband Bryce, and let "Veronica's Closet" save itself from itself.

This undeservedly-trashed gem might very well be the most underrated sitcom of the past decade. After initial good reviews, the critics unfairly began tearing it apart, and the American public at large - who aren't exactly known for their keen abilities to form their own opinions - promptly followed suit. What the detractors obviously never got was the series' clever satire, something that is sorely missing from that "other" Bright, Kauffman and Crane show (the bafflingly-popular "Friends"). "Veronica's Closet" tore apart the frivolous underwear industry, the phony bigwig designers and the vacuous high-profile fashion models, all with ease. The casting was terrific with Kirstie Alley, Kathy Najimy, Wallace Langham, Daryl Mitchell and even Dan Cortese exhibiting great chemistry and playing well off on one another. The series would hit a bumpy patch in the middle of its run, thanks to NBC's interference, endless cast and producer shuffling, and the unfortunate miscasting of the otherwise talented Ron Silver. Sadly, just as it was beginning to get back on track towards the end, NBC treated it like the unwanted stepchild, yanked it off the schedule for the likes of "God, the Devil & Bob" (which they cancelled a mere three weeks after premiering), and finally junked it before the finale could even air.

Even at its worst, "Veronica's Closet" was far from the worst show on television. But just like Rodney Dangerfield, it never got any respect.

I have respectfully read EVERY ONE of the other user reviews of the show on this site. It seems that most of the users liked "Veronica's Closet." It also seems that the vast majority of these people are from non-American countries, from such places as Wales, Germany, and Brazil. Maybe to them this show is humorous and refreshing... perhaps it gains something in translation... but now I think it's only fair that someone from it's country of origin write a fair review.

"Veronica's Closet" was awful. It was a star-centric show who seemed to think it's lead actress (Kirstie Alley) was a comic genius. While she was very funny as part of the dream team ensemble of "Cheers," she was vile, loathsome, and offensive as "Ronnie," president of her own lingerie company. Kirstie's yo-yo weight gain, her bizarro hair colors, and her constant whining made this show unwatchable. Her frilly, flowing, feathered wardrobe looked less like something a fashion designer would wear and more like something created by the Children's Television Workshop.

Then there was the show itself. Starting with the premise that "Sex Sells," the show's creators decided to make EVERY joke in the series about intercourse and dirty words. For example, Wallace Langham as the sexually ambiguous assistant. The constant insinuations and inferences that he might be gay were not funny, only creepy. And who can forget the heart-warming scenes where Kirstie and her secretary Olive (Kathy Najimy) would talk about the size of men's genitals while soaking up martinis at the bar? Less than Absolutely Fabulous.

Not to be outdone by the ladies the show serves up two of the most disgusting male characters in television history with Dan Cortese and Daryl "Chill" Mitchell as two horny executives who were out to Get Some! See them try to hump everything that moves, including pregnant women and their co-worker's relatives! As if this wasn't scuzzo enough, Ron Silver- America's favorite low-key psychotic- was added to the cast as Veronica's love interest!

If I sound bitter about this show it's because I am. Many of us hate it so passionately because we were "forced" to watch it between our favorite shows "Friends" and "Seinfeld," where it was sandwiched for survival. For three seasons we were amazed that the show had not been cancelled, and for three seasons the actors and producers of the show sunk lower and lower into comedy so filthy I had to shower after watching.

"Veronica's Closet" has mellowed a bit over time, and if you see it in re-runs or syndication it will not seem as loathsome to you as it did to many of us who saw it in it's original run. Today the series is trashy, flat, and occasionally funny; when it was alive it was downright unholy.

It's such a shame when networks decide that there's something wrong with their hit shows. "Veronica's Closet" is a perfect example. Instead of trying to keep the chemistry that made the show hysterical in the first season, they decided to tinker with it, cause its untimely death. When they dropped Robert Prosky and brought in Ron Silver to play Ronnie's new boss and love interest, Alec, it seems that they tried to re-create the chemistry Alley had on "Cheers," but Silver is no Ted Danson. I don't even like Ted Danson, but I wouldn't insult him by comparing the two! In the third season, after Alec's airhead bride pushed him into a volcano and took over the company, the show seemed to be getting back to its roots, but thanks to NBC's dumb idea to reschedule it, the series lost its core audience and was prematurely jerked from the airwaves. The final episodes, which didn't air until USA Network got a hold of them, were among the best, but sadly, NBC decided the show was over. . .Thanks so much to the brain-dead exec that cast Silver!

I don't know which season is now running here in Italy on Fox satellite TV, but I find it really irresistible. In my opinion it is one of the best sit comedy of this period, full of humor and great intelligence. It makes you smiling even after one bad day. Kristie is very good to joke with herself (for example about getting fat), not so easy for a top actress, and she is funny as she was in "cin cin" ( I don't know the American name, is the sit comedy in a pub with Ted Danson). All the other actors are nearly unknown here in Italy, but they all work well. In my personal opinion it's more funny then "Friends" and I'm sorry to know it's ended.