Hot in Cleveland

When I heard about this show, I figured it would be "cute." What I was not prepared for was how spot-on it really is. I've lived in the L.A. area off and on for over 20 years, and all the L.A. references are painfully HONEST.

Wendie Malick, Jane Leeves, Valerie Bertinelli and Betty White are hysterical!

The story lines are very realistic ...L.A. is really a very SADLY over-rated place to live, for many reasons. The sunshine is nice, but even that gets boring after a while. Between the high price of living, the traffic and the shallow people, it's really an awful place to live for any "average" person. Ironically, this show comes at a time in my life when I have decided to relocate to my home town of Chicago.

I routinely experience just about all of the ones depicted on this show whenever I go back to Chicago. While it is true that there are shallow people everywhere in the world, L.A. seems to be the U.S. capital of "the beautiful people." Living here is very exclusionary; everything is about money, status, power and looks. If you have those things, you'll be included; if not, you are SOL, no matter how good or nice a person you are.

It is true that in Chicago - and other Midwestern cities, most of the real men are not salaciously panting after women 1/2 their age. It is true that in other places, mature women are appreciated more than merely discarded after the age of 30.

My only regret about this show is that it is not on a major network ... it would get more exposure that way! So glad that it got picked up for more episodes.

If you're a fan, let's all get the word out and keep this show on the air!

Wendie Malick (Just Shoot Me), Jane Leeves (Frasier), and Valerie Bertinelli (One Day at a Time) are all sitcom veterans who play best friends who decide to take a trip to Paris but are sidetracked in Cleveland, Ohio. There, they rediscover themselves as their hometown of Los Angeles has appeared to have forgotten them. Malick's role as a soap opera actress was cut short by it's cancellation after 27 years. Leeves is the eyebrow plucker to Oprah until she goes elsewhere. Valerie's character has written a book about 200 things to do before they die. Once in Cleveland, they are rediscovered by actual middle American men who try to pick them up at a bar. Valerie's character Melanie declares that she's moving to Cleveland and renting a Victorian house. After all, her kids are grown and her ex-husband has moved on. Even the men in Cleveland appear to appreciate the older woman, that was their reason for going to Paris to be appreciated more instead of discarded. I wished the show would have more than 8 episodes but it's nice to have anything. Betty White steals the scene from all of them as the caretaker, Elka. At 88 years old, Betty White is at her best and funniest. Okay, I'm sure people in Cleveland have a sense of humor and will enjoy the show. Just enjoy the show! We have such few sitcoms on the air! the more the merrier and the laughs galore!

This is a great show! The three main cast members work perfectly together, and of course Betty White in the show is the VERY sweet icing on this cake. Too bad we only get 8 episodes this season, but that's better than none!

The three best friends land in Cleveland, expecting it to be a boring, uncultured town, and to their delight it's a fun and incredible place with men who find them very attractive, and the feeling is mutual.

They decide to stay, but then they find out that a caretaker named Elka (White) comes with the house. Elka is a perfect foil for the trio.

And all of the women in this new "Fab Four" looking amazing!

Yes, the writing's mediocre, and the laugh track is really annoying - However, there are four actresses here that are fun to watch, and I'd rather watch this than some lame reality show.

When I wake up in the middle of the night and want to watch something I've recorded, I would choose a new "Hot in Cleveland" episode over an episode of something that I've seen three times before. Sure the situations are not realistic, but it's fun to watch Valerie, Wendy, Jane and Betty work at turning those silly scripts into something funny.

P.S. Love the look on Huey Lewis's face as he asks "Victoria":

"Is it magically delicious?"

With all the reality TV shows that are nothing more than people cursing and generally being cruel to each other, this show is a welcome breath of fresh air. There's nothing necessarily all that unique about the format, and of course it has the standard sitcom canned laughter, but the 4 actresses really are funny in their respective rolls and have great chemistry together. Maybe some of the jokes aren't even all that original, however few sitcoms in history actually made me laugh out loud, yet this one does. And good lord, could Valerie Bertinelli be any prettier at 50?! I'm glad to hear this show will be back next year. We need to be able to turn on the TV and watch a new show without being assaulted by nonstop reality garbage.