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Watching Ellie

  • TV Series
  • 2002–2003
  • 30m
IMDb RATING
6.0/10
403
YOUR RATING
Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Watching Ellie (2002)
SitcomComedy

A single woman, Ellie Riggs, tries to navigate her way through the Los Angeles music scene and her own messy personal life. Told in real time, each episode is a linear 22-minute slice of Ell... Read allA single woman, Ellie Riggs, tries to navigate her way through the Los Angeles music scene and her own messy personal life. Told in real time, each episode is a linear 22-minute slice of Ellie's life.A single woman, Ellie Riggs, tries to navigate her way through the Los Angeles music scene and her own messy personal life. Told in real time, each episode is a linear 22-minute slice of Ellie's life.

  • Creator
    • Brad Hall
  • Stars
    • Julia Louis-Dreyfus
    • Darren Boyd
    • Steve Carell
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.0/10
    403
    YOUR RATING
    • Creator
      • Brad Hall
    • Stars
      • Julia Louis-Dreyfus
      • Darren Boyd
      • Steve Carell
    • 40User reviews
    • 1Critic review
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 nominations total

    Episodes19

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    Top cast66

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    Julia Louis-Dreyfus
    Julia Louis-Dreyfus
    • Ellie Riggs
    • 2002–2003
    Darren Boyd
    Darren Boyd
    • Ben
    • 2002–2003
    Steve Carell
    Steve Carell
    • Edgar
    • 2002–2003
    Lauren Bowles
    Lauren Bowles
    • Susan
    • 2002–2003
    Don Lake
    Don Lake
    • Dr. Don Zimmerman…
    • 2002–2003
    Peter Stormare
    Peter Stormare
    • Ingvar
    • 2002–2003
    Johnny A. Sanchez
    Johnny A. Sanchez
    • Elevator Guy…
    • 2002
    Sherilyn Fenn
    Sherilyn Fenn
    • Vanessa
    • 2002
    Allan Wasserman
    • Producer
    • 2002–2003
    Armonn Livingston
    • Band Member
    • 2002
    Fred Willard
    Fred Willard
    • Fred
    • 2003
    Lisa Wilhoit
    Lisa Wilhoit
    • Angela…
    • 2002
    John Timothy Botka
    • Groom…
    • 2002
    Jane Lynch
    Jane Lynch
    • Roman
    • 2003
    Richard Karn
    Richard Karn
    • Richard Karn
    • 2003
    Harry Groener
    Harry Groener
    • Robert
    • 2002
    Ashley Gardner
    Ashley Gardner
    • Monica
    • 2002
    Holly Joy Gaines
    Holly Joy Gaines
    • Vicki Gerwich
    • 2002
    • Creator
      • Brad Hall
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews40

    6.0403
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    Featured reviews

    brain17

    Love It! Love It! Love It!

    JL-D is the sexiest comedienne to come along in a blue moon, and her timing is extraordinary. Her new sitcom does some amazing things with real-time narrative, and features an affable bunch of oddball neighbors and cohorts. I really think this show has the potential to become the righteous heir to SEINFELD which, as we all know, is a hell of an act to follow. Very urbane and witty, with astute character comedy juggling well with absurd physical schtick. And I LOVE those freeze frames which showcase Julia's gorgeous mouth! Ouch! More please!
    7boatierra

    Great use of real time action.

    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.
    Asteri-Atypical

    Utterly TRITE! Anyone with a brain - AVOID!

    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.
    mdschill

    Why Hollywood can't try something different

    Most of these comments show exactly why interesting and innovative shows, or indeed any show that's not in the same mold as every other show, don't get made. Or if they get made, they don't attract viewers quickly enough for the networks and they get dumped, whereas junk like "Veronica's Closet" just keeps getting renewed. "Action" was brilliant, and i'm glad it had its short perfect run. "Freaks and Geeks" was great. "Undeclared" is great. "Once and Again" had the best-written teens on televison, maybe ever. "The Tick" took a brilliant cartoon and somehow made it even better in live-action. And they all failed, because the American people want jokes in their comedy, jokes that come at regular intervals. They don't want comedy that's closer to drama, or to "real life", or to tragedy. They want a laugh track to tell them when something's funny. "Watching Ellie" is really funny, mostly because Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a brilliant physical comedienne. You watch her expressions, what she does with her eyes and mouth and hands, reacting to the frustrations of life, and she is just brilliant. The 22-minute limit is a gimmick, but it's actually fun to see what new situation the writers come up with to attach the ticking clock to. This show is going to die a quick death, and in five years it's going to come out on DVD and everyone will declaim its brilliance. Too bad it's a network show. Cheers to Julia Louis-Dreyfus (and even to Brad Hall).
    Aussie Stud

    Watching Ellie... as I sighed a breath of relief!

    Julia Louis-Dreyfuss pulls off the impossible. She stars in a sitcom where the character she portrays is about as far away as possible as she can get from the one she portrayed in "SEINFELD". The only similarities here is that surprisingly, she chose to name herself 'Ellie' in this sitcom where her name in Seinfeld was 'Elaine'. A coincidence perhaps?

    Nonetheless, this sitcom had me thinking prior that I was only going to witness another poor offering starring a Seinfeld allum portraying the same character as before (ie. Kramer - "THE MICHAEL RICHARDS SHOW", George - "THE BOB PATTERSON SHOW"). I decided to give "WATCHING ELLIE" a shot and I was pleasantly surprised!

    Julia Louis-Dreyfuss is Ellie. From what the pilot offered, Ellie is a jazz singer at a local club. Her life is full of comical mishaps and characters that she must interact with on a daily basis and she appears to have a sister of a somewhat flighty-nature. Ellie's lifestyle is amusing. She is sort of like 'Ally McBeal' without the dancing babies and dramatization of events that play out to the sound-track of Barry White.

    "WATCHING ELLIE" supposedly plays out in real-time. There is a time counter in the corner of the television screen that counts down from '22:00' minutes. In the pilot, Ellie scrambles to ready herself for her jazz gig while the toilet in her bathroom is over-flowing, unbeknownst to her. Her sister has stolen her favorite dress that she wants to wear and now her apartment is becoming flooded with water! Enter surprise number two, Peter Stormare (ie. "FARGO", "O' BROTHER WHERE ART THOU", "DANCER IN THE DARK")!! An actor who I never thought I'd see starring in a generic sitcom, he portrays a pathetic handy-man with an un-placeable accent (Swedish perhaps?) who can't help but ogle over Ellie as she calls on him to try and fix her broken toilet. When he slips and knocks himself out, Ellie dashes a few floors down to seek advice from a Doctor who assists in the situation while completely nude.

    Ellie herself has several character flaws. While not completely naive to the current events that shape her lifestyle, she has a male neighbor who has an issue with her by advising her constantly that the elevator is 'out of order' when it is in fact working (therefore forcing her to take the stairs every time) and she is also having an affair with a member of her jazz outfit who is (surprise, surprise) married!

    Unlike the character of 'Elaine' that she portrayed on "SEINFELD", Ellie is a character that you can sympathize with. She does come off as a loser of sorts, but there is also a lot of 'human' in her character that some people will be able to identify with.

    I really enjoyed the pilot, but will "WATCHING ELLIE" be able to keep its head above water with smart writing and not curse itself with repetitive jokes and turn into puerile trash (ie. "JUST SHOOT ME", "ALLY MCBEAL")? Only time will tell.

    In the meantime - well done Julia Louis-Dreyfuss!

    My Rating - 8 out of 10

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      The original concept of the series was that each episode took place in real time. A timer on the corner of the screen counted down from 22 minutes, pausing in the middle for one commercial break. The timer was discontinued after a few episodes. For the second season, the conceit was abandoned altogether in favor of a more conventional time structure, perhaps due to a combination of network pressure and the difficulties in planning and filming the action so that it appears to unfold in real time.
    • Connections
      Featured in 101 Biggest Celebrity Oops (2004)

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    FAQ18

    • How many seasons does Watching Ellie have?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 26, 2002 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • 22 Minutes with Eleanor Riggs
    • Filming locations
      • Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Hammond's Reef
      • NBC Studios
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 30m
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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