"Unhappily Ever After", the previous Nikki Cox centered program, was an unashamed clone of "Married With Children" with the buxom Miss Cox playing the "Kelly Bundy" role of the pretty young woman, (although played as intelligent and pretty as opposed to Kelly's dumb and pretty). It began with a different premise, (about a talking rabbit puppet and a divorced set of parents) but languished (not surprisingly)and quickly degenerated into a show centered around Miss Cox's character. This was filled with the usual sit-com banalities uttered to the uproarious approval of the laugh track while featuring Miss Cox's formidable figure with leering delight.
The new show (the WB Network must really be hurting) is designed as a vehicle for Miss Cox, and her most noticeable attributes. Sadly, these are her only attributes. Miss Cox is supposed to be a Las Vegas dancer married to a WWF-type professional wrestler. She is far too gawky and clumsy to be a dancer (despite her alleged professional history in dance and the labored and elaborate dance numbers in which she is so prominently featured in the opening credits) and the "wrestler" wouldn't have made the cut at any Division II school; he too is a gawky chump. Neither character is likable and neither is funny, although the husband is not as gratingly unpleasant as Miss Cox. They are sad losers talking about poverty, drunkenness and unemployment. What a barrel of laughs!
We are supposed to be amused by their young-and-in-love antics as they struggle in marriage, but instead are subjected to her shrill rantings and unfunny facial contortions as the usual platitudes of sit-com plots are warmed over and served. The most amazing part of this is that you can tell Miss Cox thinks all she has to do is show up and lumber around the set emoting either of her two unfunny modes of "acting" (the caring wife and aggressive young professional) and people will tune in and laugh, just because it's her, Nikki!. Nobody would watch this show but for a glimpse of Miss Cox's ample cleavage (prominently displayed and sniggeringly commented upon in the scripts) for there is precious little else to see. Two ostensible "friends" have been manufactured for them as foils, but just seem like even bigger jerks than Nikki and her husband. Why would they be friends with these people (a conniving wrestling promoter and fellow dance-girl loser)? The parallel with Married With Children continues as dorky neighbors, an uptight shrew and a dopey meek husband wander by from time to time. Why not just call them Marcy and Steve? (the actress who played Marcy is directing this mess- what a surprise!).
The key of any of the successful TV shows has been that the audience develops an affinity for the lead characters, and likes them. Vehicles pinning their hopes simply on a "celebrity" (particularly a third-rate celebrity) fail without good writing; remember Jenny McCarthy's pathetic attempts?
Spare us from this misery WB, just show the old cartoons or Star Trek (original) episodes you have lying around. Nikki Cox is not funny, and this show just plain stinks.
