Becker

I never watched this show when it was running, but I happened to catch a few episodes in rerun, and now I seek out every rerun I can find. The show is very good, especially for its much more accurate view of life in New York compared to such fantasy shows as Sex and the City and Friends. The diner the characters frequent feels like a real NY diner, and Becker's apartment is appropriately cramped and dilapidated. I also like that the show casually mixes black, white and Latin characters.

Ted Danson gives a very good performance as an inversion of his classic Cheers character. Where Sam Malone was the ultimate affable lady's man, Danson's Becker is a bitter loser with few friends and a miserable outlook on life. The other characters feed into this, and the back-and-forth is great. I didn't expect to like it, but I did.

Rarely have I seen producers self sabotage their own production. Chemistry with Becker/Reggie/Bob and Jake drove the series along with the hilarious Linda and Margaret. I'm sure Nancy Travis is a good actress, but she simply should never have been cast. The storyline revolving her and Becker ruined the show.

This show is funny and very original. The show is like a reflection of everyday life, sort of like Seinfeld. But whereas Seinfeld gives a more positive out look to the world, Becker does the opposite. Every episode has Ted Danson complaining about something; a broken street light in front of his apartment, his annoying patients, the post office and much, much more. A very funny show.

We love Becker here in the UK it is a really funny comedy and look forward to each hilarious episode Ted Danson Plays an excellent role as Becker He is ably supported by Nancy Travis ,Shawnee Smith,Alex Desert, and the rest of the crew There is a great rapport between the characters which blend well together We think it is one of the most original and funniest situation comedies of all time There is nothing to compare with the quality of the scripts at present here in the UK at present and the fine acting compliments the scripts well. I heard that it has ended production in 2004 I hope that it does carry on as the standard has not fallen throughout it's production run

I watched the final "Becker" episode last night, and will miss this series. Critics have beaten up on this show quite a lot lately, but I watched it regularly and always enjoyed it. The characters are diverse and likeable, and I particularly admire Shawnee Smith, who played Linda, for taking a character that could have been annoying in the extreme and making her sweet and funny. One of the funniest things I've seen in a sitcom is when Linda, in trying to fix the hanging skeleton in Becker's office, managed to crazy-glue her hand to that of the skeleton. She ended up walking around the office all day holding hands with the skeleton, which rolled alongside her on its stand (you had to see it to appreciate it).

Ted Danson was quoted in TV Guide as saying that they decided to end the show with some grace, which I think they did quite nicely, tying up loose ends for the various characters. A couple of the jokes were particularly apt, i.e. Dr. Becker looking at the chart for a patient named "Mr. Nielsen" and saying he didn't know what he was complaining about because "these numbers don't look so bad to me." Danson's wife, Mary Steenburgen, appeared briefly as a deluded patient, and Becker exclaimed after she left "I pity the poor man who's married to her."

Anyway, I commend the makers of "Becker" for giving some closure to the characters in this show while they had the chance. As a regular viewer I appreciated it, and found it a very satisfying end to the series.