Ned et Stacey

Stacey Colbert (Debra Messing) is a neurotic Jewish freelance writer in New York. She is desperate to get away from her nagging mother after getting dumped by her fiancée. Her sister Amanda (Nadia Dajani) is happily married to sweet, clueless accountant Eric Moyer (Greg Germann). They set Stacey up with his selfish, unscrupulous, superficial, and materialistic co-worker Ned Dorsey (Thomas Haden Church). It is fire and ice. When his boss plans to give away his expected promotion of Creative Director to a family man, he quickly invents a fiancée to marry. Stacey needs his apartment and he needs a wife. What could go wrong? In the second season, they plan to divorce while he partners with Amanda in her muffin shop.

This is Debra Messing's big break on network TV. She has great charms that is equal to the scoundrel Thomas Haden Church. The obvious move is for Ned and Stacey to get together. The pilot should have planted better seeds for that relationship to grow. There is a lot of combative chemistry but they slow-roll the coupling. They may as well be Will & Grace. They need more heat at the start which would translate into better friction throughout the show. Otherwise, the four leads are solid sitcom players.

Ned (Thomas Haden Church) has a terrific job as an ad executive in Manhattan. But, alas, the big boss tells him that he can't promote him further up the ladder until he's a stable family man, with a wife. This is not what Ned wants to hear. Also working at the agency is accountant Eric (Greg Germann) who is married to the lovely but catty Amanda (Nadia Dajani). The two wedded folks decide to fix Ned up with Amanda's sister, Stacey (Debra Messing), a writer for a newspaper called the Soho News. The blind date, dinner for both couples, doesn't go well, as the ad man and the journalist are polar opposites. Not long after, Stacy sees one of Ned's ads and realizes he "stole" an idea she had thrown out in casual conversation. Miffed, Stacey heads to Ned's apartment, to tell him off. But, wait, Ned's digs, which he inherited from an alzheimers stricken aunt, is gorgeous and Stacey longs to get away from bunking with her parents. What if, she proposes, ha ha, to Ned, we get married, in name only? Neddie could get his promotion and Stacey could get her own room in a beautiful, well-situated apartment? It's a go! But, from day one, bickering goes back and forth, making everyone, including Eric and Amanda, wonder if the marriage will last. Then, too, just what are the ground rules about the twosome's romantic life? This series, which I probably missed from working two nights a week for years, is a delight. Church was fresh off his stint on Wings and Messing hadn't found stardom as part of Will and Grace but the duo works beautifully together. Church's dry wit and Messing's zaniness make for a very nice romantic comedy show. German and Dajani are also very funny and deft, as are the other supporting actors. In addition, Ned's apartment is quite glamorous, as are the costumes and alternate sets. Nice, too, is the script and timely direction. All fans of mixed-matched romantic love tales should try to add this one to their collections.

Ned and Stacey is my favorite show! There's nothing better then Ned, Stacey, Amanda and Eric to brighten up a dull day! Ned and Amanda are my favorite characters. I love their wit and sarcasm, especially when they argue over the muffin shop. Of course, my favorite episode is the now classic "Loganberry's Run" where Ned tries to introduce the bizarre loganberry muffin to the Amanda's Amuffins menu. Throughout the episode, he obsesses over the muffin and tries to convince Amanda to make it in every way he can. I'm very depressed over the fact that this show didn't last as long as it should have. Thomas Haden Church is an excellent actor, so excellent in fact that I have developed a crush on him. I love Ned Dorsey!

Greg Germann stole this show, not unlike his efforts on "Ally McBeal". Debra Messing was far less annoying here than she currently is on "that show". Thomas Hayden Church was sublime as the me-centered womanizer he illuminated with "Ned".

I do a polka of disgust when clever, acerbic comedies like "Ned & Stacey" meet an untimely death and crud like "Yes Dear" & "Good Morning Miami" live on. Tis a travesty.

This delightfully original series lived a micro-short life in syndication, but your chances these days of seeing it are about as likely as seeing a sequel to "Rabbit Test". It's a low down crying shame. First "Herman's Head", now this.

The verdict has been delivered by broadcast TV: Strip it of life, dress it up, make it palpable for the masses, and viola! Hit.

Long live "Ned & Stacey". R.I.P.

This was only on my radar because I wanted to see the few episodes in season two written by Charlie Kaufman. Big fan of his films, and after realizing his TV credits included work on two of my all-time favorite comedies (Get A Life & The Dana Carvey Show) wanted more examples of how he wrote half-hour comedy. They were some of the funniest for sure. However, the show as a whole was very enjoyable. It really is basically a two season pilot for Will & Grace, but I think I like it better. I'm young enough I only knew Thomas Hayden Church as the heel Lyle in the George of the Jungle movie we watched on VHS a lot as kids. From my child's eye (haven't seen that movie in years) he was very funny in that, and stole most of his scenes. Church is hilarious and over the top of in this role, and I think his energy provides a better foil than Will would later. Eric (Gregg German) and Amanda (Nadia Dajani) deserve mention as well, both actors do a great job and bring a lot to the show. Debra Messing sings right on key, no issues here, basically playing a softer Grace Adler. Tough to find this show (I lucked out with cheap DVD at flea market), but if you can find it I recommend watching.