Watching Ellie

I was not expecting too much with this show - seeing the success of most spin-offs from Seinfeld failed, I was hoping Watching Ellie wouldn't suffer the same fate...but the show was just plain terrible. While the real-time format was somewhat original (sorry, "24" made it first), there was absolutely no structure whatsoever to the show. There were random events after random events, and the show literally became...well, a show about nothing - and not in the good way. The jokes failed regularly; while I applaud their decision to avoid a laugh track, there's something else they should have done away with: sitcom jokes. While the show is not all sitcom jokes, there were enough in there to realize just how bad such styled jokes are without a laugh track to encourage your humor. There was no Sex and the City humor in here, or even Malcolm in the Middle humor. Frankly, there was no humor. The little clock was no longer a means to orient yourself in Ellie's world - instead, it became more of a dragging clock. It is kind of like being in school, watching the clock and waiting for the 12:00 lunch bell...and the clock just drags sooooo slowly. Watching Ellie crashed and burned pretty damn badly.

No word could describe this show better than "trite".

It's little more than oversimplified stereotypes, sophomoric clichés and predictable, stupid situations that EVERYONE has seen in dozens of shows before.

This show exudes stupidity but not in a clever or parodied way. The characters are 2-D, plastic, petty and predictable.

Sometimes I can recommend a show to SOMEONE or SOME demographic. However I can recommend this show to NO ONE. There's nothing new here.

What you can get in this show you can get, and better, nearly everywhere else.

Is it just me or is this show really..bad? It tries Way too hard to be like Seinfeld, but nothing will ever be that good. I think Julia Louis Dreyfuss is very talented, but I think she is much better in a supporting role, especially as Elaine. The first half of the show (of the first episode) wasn't bad, but then it took a terrible turn for the worst. I mean come on, is this the best you can come up with? Its basically stupid slap stick comedy, which is probably because the writing is so bad. It was also very boring. I liked how they had a clock in the corner, it came in very handy when I could tell how long I had left in watching this unfunny series. I'm sorry Julia. You should have done a Seinfeld Spin-off. Learn from Kelsey Grammer. He wanted to do a show after Cheers about a guy in an accident that has people wait around on him and be his helpers. But another guy told him to keep the character of Fraiser. Now look at him. He's making millions PER EPISODE.

Will there ever be a successful "Seinfeld" spin-off? Maybe. But I'm still waiting. Julia Lous-Dreyfuss has talent, which she wonderfully demonstrated on the hit sitcom. This show is just as lame as most sitcoms. But I guess the creators felt it had "hit" written all over it, because it's new and innovative: no laugh track and shot in real time. I gotta admit, that is original. But where's the laughs? Added to the cast are the talents of Don Lake and Peter Stormare, but they're also given thankless roles. The show is good-natured and never depends on cheap sex gags, but it's also incredibly dull. I'd rather watch paint try than watch Ellie.

My score: 3 (out of 10)

I recorded the premiere of "Watching Ellie" last night to view after watching my other standard Tuesday night shows. I'm so glad I did, because this show is totally worth watching.

The show's use of real time action is not a not a new concept to television (as seen on HBO and Showtime), but it is rather new to advertiser supported networks like NBC. The concept of using real time action is a breath of fresh air in the land of the half hour sitcom, with their story lines frequently interupted by commercials. The actual length of a 'half-hour' sitcom is twenty-two minutes. "Watching Ellie" broke this into two halves, with only on stop for commercials in the middle. I noticed, thankfully, that there was no laugh track used (an overused concept).

The ability of the actors to accurately portray what is really going on in a twenty-two minute span obviously gives it a sense of real time passing, rather than a beginning-middle-end storyline where everything falls into place perfectly. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my sitcoms. I am frequently glued to my TV in the evenings. But it is nice to see something new every once in a while.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays Ellie, a single lounge singer who happens to be sleeping with the married guitarist of her backup band. So far, the show seem to be about watching her everyday life as a lounge singer.

Watching this show reminded me of an episode of "Mad About You" that broached this same concept. The story was about Jamie and Paul as they were trying to put their little Mabel to sleep with out hovering over her. The whole episode was shot in one take, with no commercial interuptions.

I really hope this show makes it. I am looking forward to future episodes.