Conrad Bloom

In the three NBC sitcoms Mark Feuertein has co-starred in, he's done a wonderful job of diplaying confusion about the bizarre antics of the women around him, but still taking it in stride. On "Caroline in the City" it was Caroline, on "Fired Up", it was Gwen and Teri, on "Conrad Bloom" it was basically the rest of the cast. Although I was sorry to see "Fired Up" go, I was more than happy to see Mark as a sitcom lead, knowing full he had enough experience in the genre to hold his own. He had a wonderful chemistry with the supporting actors, especially Lauren Graham (his ex-girlfriend-turned-best-friend Molly) and Jessica Stone (his co-worker Shelley, who recently became a mother). I would love to have seen a romance between Conrad and one of them. The show's premise was more original than most and the writing was quite clever. Sadly NBC did not agree. The show was given a dreadful timeslot on Monday night (EVERY sitcom NBC has put there has come to an early end, no doubt because most of the target audience is watch football on ABC) and it's fate was soon sealed. However those who were wise enough to have taped most of the episodes (myself included) will have had the pleasure of watching and remembering the sitcom classic that never was.

Conrad Bloom (Mark Feuerstein) is an ad writer in New York City. He is surrounded by the women of his life. Molly Davenport (Lauren Graham) is his former girlfriend turned best friend. Florie (Linda Lavin) is his mother. Nina (Ever Carradine) is his sister. Shelly (Jessica Stone) and George Dorsey (Steve Landesberg) are his co-workers. Faye Reynolds (Paula Newsome) is their boss.

I like the cast. This is a simple single dude in the city sitcom. The difference is all the women around him. There may be one too many. He is basically the central hub of the show and he has to connect with all five different woman every episode. Shelly and Faye do the workplace. Molly is the most important second character. Linda Lavin is also important as 2B. Nina is often left behind. With episode nine, the show seems to be trying to fix that by moving mother and sister into his apartment. I like this show for the most part. It's too bad that this only lasted a half season.