144 replies to this topic

[Ethereal Zoe]

From the TV Land sitcom machine comes Happily Divorced. According to The Futon Critic:

Written by Fran Drescher and Peter Marc Jacobson ("The Nanny, "What I Like About You"), "Happily Divorced" is based on Fran Drescher's real life and centers around Los Angeles florist Fran (Drescher) as she deals with dating after finding out her realtor husband of 18 years (John Michael Higgins) is gay. The show focuses on how she juggles her new relationships and her ex-husband post-divorce while still living under the same roof. The cast is rounded out by Fran's best friend Judi (Tichina Arnold), her parents Dori and Glen (Rita Moreno and Robert Walden) and her flower delivery employee Cesar (Valente Rodriguez). Additionally, in the pilot, Fran's love interest, Elliot, is played by D.W. Moffett.

I couldn't care less about Fran Drescher but seeing John Michael Higgins, Tichina Arnold, and D.W. Moffett in one show will be worth putting up with her.

[vb68]

Is D.W. Moffett going to be a regular?

I'll probably watch for Rita Moreno alone.

[Ethereal Zoe]

Is D.W. Moffett going to be a regular?

According to the show's TV Land blog, right now Moffett, Higgins, and Valente Rodriguez have only signed on for the pilot. But fingers crossed they all stay for the entire 10 episodes.

The show is set to debut on June 15.

[Jon N]

Interesting, though I'm tired of hearing that Fran is using her own name, I mean originality is one thing, but in all your sitcoms?? Too much, just too much.

[Bruinsfan]

It reminds me of having the impression that Tony Danza always played characters named Tony because he would miss his cues if other actors in a scene called him by a different name.

[vb68]

It is probably true that Fran Drescher can only play versions of herself as well.

[Peterased]

I liked the script for this. The comedy isn't all that far from her Nanny days, but I don't think people come to TV Land for something radically new.

Is D.W. Moffett going to be a regular?

He's a series regular on the new ABC Family series Switched at Birth, so probably not.

Interesting, though I'm tired of hearing that Fran is using her own name,

I can see the issue with Living With Fran, but this one really is based on her, and they're also using her ex-husband's name too, so I think it works from a marketing perspective.

I think it's kind of cool that she and her ex-husband have not only managed to stay good friends and business partners, but they've created a sitcom out of it.

[acatmaylook]

Using the same first name worked for Lucy, and for Bob Newhart.

[Ethereal Zoe]

The Happily Divorced page at TVLand.com has been updated with a cast photo. I think Rita Moreno looks great.

[whee whee piggy]

Since I'm a regular viewer of The Nanny, I keep seeing the ads, which I don't think is the best strategy. It's so easy to see the work she's had done and the weight* she's put on in comparison. And that dress does no favors, changing colors right at the widest point of the hips!

That said, I've actually laughed at the jokes, which is more than I can say of the torment of the Retired at 35 ads, so I'll watch for sure. Even though I find the topic Not Funny. I'd kill any man who lied and cheated on me for years, I don't care what gender the Other Person was.

*Yeah, yeah, she's still skinnier than 90% of American women, but it's sort of jarring since it was obviously such an issue for her from all the jokes about it on The Nanny. I hope it means she's become more comfortable in her skin.

[xander874]

I thought the first episode was pretty good. It's a standard cheesy stupid mindless sitcom, which I don't mind sometimes.
Not a huge FD fan, but like the rest of the cast. And I actually laughed a bit. The pilot was paced weird, but hopefully it will get better.

Edited by TWoP Howard, Jun 16, 2011 @ 5:04 PM.

[MHSWeb79]

I like Fran. I TiVo'd this show since I'm not good at staying awake until 11pm. Thanks for your encouraging review - I'll post tomorrow after I've actually seen the show.

[Samwil]

I liked it. I will tune in again.

Fran looks great.

[Alpha Neutral]

"The Nanny" is my all-time favorite comedy show and I have a lot of respect for Fran Drescher. This could have been better and it could have been worse. The cliche love interest is the only character I found boring but the flower shop assistant character, though likable, bordered on offensive, IMO. The only really great line of the night was her mother going "Don't throw away a good marriage over nothing" but there were a lot of fun moments scattered throughout. Definitely needs work if it gets picked up for a full season, which at the moment doesn't look likely.

Edited by Alpha Neutral, Jun 16, 2011 @ 11:02 AM.

[adhoc]

I saw the first 10-15 very cliched minutes. Taped the rest for later viewing. I found the comedy weak, at least in the part I saw. The usual gay jokes. The mom and dad saying, in response to Fran's "Why didn't you tell me if you knew he was gay", "We thought you knew." That's all supposed to be amusing?

But most disturbing were FD's cheek implants (or whatever she had done). It's too bad--she's an attractive older woman who does not need to visit the (apparently) same plastic surgeon as Cher. I had a hard time watching her because she looks sort of like the FD I loved in The Nanny, but not.

Edited by adhoc, Jun 16, 2011 @ 12:04 PM.

[andyllina]

I didn't see a thread for this show, so I thought I'd add one.

Actually, there was a thread for this show:
http://forums.televi...owtopic=3203639

[MsFlibbles]

Glad to know that I'm not the only one that thought that Fran looked a lot like Cher. They look like they could be sisters. The show is okay. I'll give it a few more episodes. Don't care for the new guy in her life.

[OHaraButler]

My favorite part was when Rita Moreno said they were going to see West Side Story. I like all the actors, but the person playing Peter. Something about him bugs me and I am not sure why?

Edited by OHaraButler, Jun 16, 2011 @ 2:10 PM.

[PhPhan]

The pilot wasn't very good. Maybe the show will improve.

I liked Rita Moreno. I never have before, but for some reason I like her on this show. The guy playing Fran's dad looked so familiar. I couldn't place him. I was surprised to find out he is played by Robert Walden. Robert Walden was Joe Rossi on Lou Grant. I couldn't believe how old he looked.

My favorite part was when Rita Moreno said they were going to see West Side Story.

I didn't catch that reference when I watched the episode. It's kind of amusing now that I'm just getting it.

[giovannif7]

Not thrilled with the pilot at all. After the 7th or 8th version of the "How did you not know he was gay?" joke, my eyes wouldn't roll anymore. IMHO, the writers really need to move past repeating the same gag over and over. If there's more than a couple of instances of the same tired bit in the second episode, I'm probably done, although I might stick around if the ex-husband also has scenes where he dates a man, brings him home and makes out with him on the couch. Somehow I can't see that happening on TVLand.

Both Rita Moreno and Robert Walden deserve much better than this. They've both done much more progressive shows with gay content (Rita as the nun on Oz and Robert as the conflicted older brother of a gay man on 80s sitcom Brothers), and this feels like a huge waste of both of their talents.

Edited by giovannif7, Jun 16, 2011 @ 4:27 PM.

[DXD562]

Not a bad debut, but then, my expectations were absolutely rock bottom, so maybe that helped. Actually got a couple of chuckles out of it.

I really like the ex-husband and definitely would like to see him dating :) My biggest complaint with the episode was that Fran Drescher totally mailed it in. She seemed to be reading off cue cards the entire time. I saw her interviewed recently and she was really happy about being back on a sitcom, but you'd never know it from that performance.

Didn't know the father was Robert Walden. Wow. I never would have recognized him, and I was a regular Lou Grant viewer. He sure has changed, but I guess that's to be expected, as LG was 30 years ago...

[TWoP Howard]

I didn't see a thread for this show, so I thought I'd add one.

Actually, there was a thread for this show.

I’ve merged the two.

[nicepebbles]

Since it's a pilot, I feel like I can't complain too much. It had to move along as fast as it did (he tells her he's gay, they're divorced and she's dating again) since it has to tell a story in such a short amount of time to bring in the viewers. I felt like it moving so fast, made it seem really unrealistic. I know it's a sitcom and isn't striving for that, still. There were way too many one-liners. Way too many stereotypical gay jokes. I might give it another shot. I like FD well enough to have sat through a few episodes of The Nanny and laughed. I didn't LOL at this but I was amused even though aside from the premise, I've seen and heard these jokes a million times before.

[vb68]

I liked it. It's TV Land, so you know what you're getting, and I did think it was better than Retired at 35.

The best part was Rita Moreno's shoutout to West Side Story.

[braggtastic]

I fell asleep. I wanted to see it because of Rita Moreno (does she look fantastic or what?). Not sure if I will give it another try. The best part was that I got the final bit of Hot in Cleveland that my DVR cut off.

[just checking]

Interesting, though I'm tired of hearing that Fran is using her own name, I mean originality is one thing, but in all your sitcoms?? Too much, just too much.

I think every Fran Drescher program has been based on her life. "The Nanny" was taken from a moment she had with Twiggy's daughter about breaking in shoes, I believe "Living With Fran" was based on her relationship with a younger guy she'd been dating, and now this, with the above-mentioned divorce from her high school sweetheart who came out of the closet. I loved "The Nanny," never watched "Living With Fran" so I can't comment on that, and I found this pilot awkward. Sure, there were moments I chuckled, but it wasn't consistent.

I read somewhere that Fran wasn't going to act in it originally, but ended up in it anyway. It seems like she hasn't been acting in a while and has been concentrating on her talk show (I hadn't heard anything going on with that in a while) and promoting cancer research, so maybe that's why she seemed off.

I am glad that Tichina Arnold's playing a character that isn't obnoxious and shrill, for once.

[jetty]

I hope she brings on Renee Taylor as a guest star, or maybe even a recurring guest star, maybe playing her wacky aunt or something. Fran and Renee together are comedy gold.

[PhPhan]

It wasn't good, but pilots sometimes suck. I don't see this show improving all that much, but it's not totally unwatchable. I'll probably keep watching just because it's there.

The funny thing is, I can't say that about that horrible Retired At 35. A show so bad that I can't even watch the commercials for it.

I think Robert Walden has a slight resemblance to George Segal.

Something I liked about this show is that Fran's parents just love Peter. It's not an angst filled "We always hated your husband - good thing you're rid of him" bit. He's like a son to them. Rita and Robert work for me as a couple and as Fran's parents. I like them together.

[Jonas Quimby]

I laughed a few times (especially the scenes with the husband), but I thought the whole "I'm gay" announcement was too quick, especially after Fran says they just made love watching Leno. Maybe if she had said something like, "Where you thinking of me or Leno?"

I really like the ex-husband and definitely would like to see him dating :)

I hope that's part of it. I felt sorry for Peter when Cesar's cousin never got in touch with him after seeing him on Facebook or the guy from the "Sound of Music" sing-a-long gave him an incomplete number. I wonder if the show will touch on the difficulties of being a middle-aged gay man just coming out or if it's just going to be Fran dating.

Something I liked about this show is that Fran's parents just love Peter. It's not an angst filled "We always hated your husband - good thing you're rid of him" bit. He's like a son to them. Rita and Robert work for me as a couple and as Fran's parents. I like them together.

I agree. I thought they had good chemistry. I almost got the impression that they liked Peter more than they liked their own daughter.

The show made no mention of Peter and Fran having children. I wonder if that was just to hedge their bets to add children later or if they are childless.

[zelmia]

I actually did think the dad was George Segal. Wow.

Loved Rita Moreno and I agree that she and NotGeorgeSegal have great chemistry. I have always liked John Michael Higgins, but he's better than this.

I also agree that Drescher was awful. Yes, it's a sitcom, and yes it's on TVLand. But even for that she was just terrible. Reading all her lines - it seemed like literally - then waiting for the laugh. I didn't catch the whole thing, but I got enough of it to feel like it was about 3 episodes crammed into one.

I agree as well about the "gay" jokes. Then again, they did pretty much the same thing on that awful Will and Grace and that show ran for an eternity.