Accidentally on Purpose

SPOILER ALERT

CBS’ only new sitcom premieres tonight on WWNY at 8:30 pm (Monday).  The big net has been promoting the heck out of this goofy thing.  I had a chance to take a peak before it airs.  I’m not sure if this was a privilege or a chore.  Okay I didn’t love it.  Okay I didn’t like it, but I didn’t hate it. 

Jenna Elfman stars as a single woman facing her ticking clock at 37 who has a fling with a handsome twenty-something guy she meets at a bar. This random, yet passionate coupling results in an accidental, but not unwanted pregnancy.  By the way discussion of this incident involves the show’s funniest line….”Always use a condom and an alias.” Unfortunately that is only one of two lines that I remember being-and excuse the internet lingo-LOL. 

“I can’t take another office party. I’ve slept with everyone here.” This is the first line of the pilot and it could have been hysterical, but it falls flat.  There is a similar line in an episode of Sex and the City uttered by Kim Catrell at an engagement party when she has had too much to drink, but of course the language used was a lot coarser and it is a lot funnier. Here is uttered by Jenna Elfman’s girl pal, played by the Scottish Actress, Ashley Jensen.  I’m confused isn’t she on Ugly Betty? I guess she isn’t anymore because Ugly Betty is an ABC show filmed in New York and Accidentally on Purpose is a CBS show filmed in Los Angeles.

People I need the information!

The flashback to Jenna’s romance going bad on the outlook of the Eiffel Tower is unnecessary, unimaginative and silly.  Nix it.  Incidentally her ex-boyfriend is also her boss and played by Grant Show from the old Melrose Place. Speaking of her job, she is a film critic, yet lives in a very nice apartment in the second most expensive city in Ameirca, San Francisco.  Her rent would probably be $2,000 a month and I find it hard to believe that a film critic, who had no other income could afford it, unless they were famous, like Leonard Maltin. 

Also there is a quote about Gone With the Wind when Jenna’s character makes reference to never saying never and the famous Scarlett O’Hara sunset scene that isn’t exactly true.  Doesn’t Scareltt O’Hara indeed never go hungry again after she makes this vow?  This attempt to create authenticity for her job fell flat.

Okay so I am hyper critical, and you can argue that sitcoms don’t’ have to be realistic to be funny.  True, but that is part of the problem, there is something about Accidentally on Purpose that wants to be realistic and taken seriously (as a comedy) but they too often go for the one liner and silly situations that negate character believability. 

Okay the second very funny line that I remember is when Jenna’s character makes reference to a visiting ex-con that has ripped the door of her refrigerator – “Hey Shawshank, fix the fridge on your way out.”

Elfman is funny to watch and she has chemistry with her young co-star, but this isn’t must watch television.  However, it does pass the time, and it is worth watching to see if it improves and gets funnier.  But don’t blame me if it doesn’t.