"The Return of Jezebel James" (2008) TV series

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Creator:

Amy Sherman

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

2008 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

When a newly single, professional woman learns she's unable to conceive, she looks to her estranged younger sister to carry her baby for her.

Cast

Parker Posey	...	Sarah Tompkins (7 episodes, 2008)
Lauren Ambrose	...	Coco Tompkins (6 episodes, 2008)
Scott Cohen	...	Marcus Sonti / ... (4 episodes, 2008)
Jack Carpenter	...	Dash (4 episodes, 2008)
Ron McLarty	...	Ronald Tompkins (3 episodes, 2008)
Michael Arden	...	Buddy (3 episodes, 2008)
Jasika Nicole	...	Dora / ... (3 episodes, 2008)
Courtney Vine	...	Office Worker (3 episodes, 2008)

Also Known As:

"Untitled Amy Sherman-Palladino Project" (USA) (working title)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Company:

Fox Broadcasting Company

Lorelai Lite (TM)

I'm a huge fan of Gilmore Girls and a huge part of my fanship (fandom? I'm not sure how to verbinate "being a fan of") is the dialogue: quicked-witted and intensely smart, it appealed to me on a fairly deep level. More than that, there was a real sense of character to back up not only Lorelai and Rory that made them more than just cardboard cut-out clichés. There was heart as much as there was humor so naturally I expected to find the same things in Amy Sherman-Palladino's newest show. But as anyone can attest, you can give the likes of Shakespeare to an ill-equipped actor and it will come off as clumsy. Whether or not it's the fault of Amy having phoned in a script that seems like it was culled from dropped scripts of GG, the show just doesn't work. Fact of the matter is that Parker Posey is a horrible stand-in for Lauren Graham's comedic talents and Posey seems to be overacting the material in front of her when the brilliance of AS-P's writing is that the jokes work best when the only laughing is from the viewer and not the "live studio audience". The laugh track *kills* the humor in the show.

What's more is that the dynamic between Sarah (Posey) and her on-screen younger sister Coco feels like it was transplanted haphazardly from Gilmore Girls, with Coco acting the role of Rory. It's infuriating because it feels like AS-P got lazy and went for the cheap laugh. I rate this show poorly because I feel that Amy Sherman-Palladino had the chance to follow up the six years of Gilmore Girls she was present for with another hit and that instead she delivered a thinly veiled insult to television audiences en masse.