Caro John

My buddy Chris likes the shows on channel 6 so this has got to be one of them. Well After Wendy leaves John he joins the 1-2-1 club. John has problems so it is up to Kirk to help him. Well John is the smartest in the 1-2-1 club. Ralph is the dumbest. Louise thinks Kirk is bad at giving advice.

I loved this show from the moment I saw it. It was about a man who's wifes leaves him and attends a support group. The show was great until cast members left. From there on the show lost its humor.

In every week's opening, teacher John Lacey (Judd Hirsch) gets his Dear John letter, gets cleaned out in court, and loses his home all to that catchy little diddy. His wife and his best friend took everything including his son. He attends the One To One Club, a support group for divorcees and widowers. Louise Mercer (Jane Carr) is the Brit group leader divorced from her kinky husband who keeps asking everyone, "Are there any sexual problems?" The group includes sleazy Kirk Morris (Jere Burns), sweet Kate McCarron (Isabella Hofmann), clueless pushover Ralph Drang (Harry Groener), silent Tom (Tom Willett), elderly fox Mrs. Margie Philbert (Billie Bird), and starting midway in season two, southern belle Mary Beth Sutton (Susan Walters).

This is a solid network sitcom of its era. It's led by some solid TV stars. Hirsch has played this character well arguably since his Taxi days. Burns is a fantastic comedic sleaze. It's a wacky group of friends who serve more as family. Everybody is great. It tackles divorce with a little humor. It's good-nature with some bite. This is not going on any top TV lists but it functions well for what it is. It's a good middling sitcom while it lasted.

This was such a sad show. A guy comes home one day and finds a letter from his wife. The theme song, also sad, it is sung from the perspective of the wife. You see him happily arriving at home, walking in the front door and then the trauma begins.

"Dear John, Dear John.

By the time you read these lines, I'll be gone.

Dear John, Dear John.

Life goes on, Right or wrong.

Dear John..."

It gets stuck in your head for some reason. Maybe it's because her voice is so sappy. In any event, it supposedly began as a British show, and they made an American version with it's own cast. John Lacey comes home to find out his wife has left him by reading a typical "Dear John" letter. Doesn't that scream sitcom? John then goes to a support group where all the comedy lies. The other members of the group have their own quirks. John also has little encounters with random singles. Not that great of a show although I like Judd Hirsch.

Dry and listless. Cliche and morose. Obnoxious casting. These are the type of people who hold up the line because they want to complain at the deli counter. No wonder his wife left him.