27 year old Nora Wilde (Téa Leoni) divorces her cheating newspaper magnet husband Leland Banks. She proclaims that she doesn't want a dime and gets back only her name. He blackballs her as a photojournalist from the industry and she can only get a job on a tabloid. Camilla Dane (Holland Taylor) is her new boss and Nicky Columbus is a fellow photographer. Chloe Banks (Amy Ryan) is her step-daughter.
The first season has Leoni trying to be the new Lucille Ball with some success. Holland Taylor is great. The premise should allow for celeb cameo like Extras. Nicky is a problem but Chloe is a bigger problem. Amy Ryan is in her late 20's and she has always seem like an older spirit. She's only two years younger than Leoni in real life. The role fits more as a younger flakey spoiled rich girl. Non of that screams Amy Ryan. At least, she should be Nora's roommate or get a job at the Comet to piss off her father. The first season is a zany single gal sitcom. It has its moments and has some fun.
The show moved from ABC to NBC for the second season. Amy Ryan gets faded out. Some retooling is tried like adding Norm from Cheers except he's mean but not mean enough to be funny. Stupid Dave is now just Dave. He turns from loveable idiot to stupid weirdo. While Nick is not that good, the rotating door of bad dates is worst. Mark may as well be a blank. Her new home is more homey. Her first season home is an empty Laverne & Shirley L.A. apartment which is interesting and a little quirky. NBC turns the show into a more standard 90's network workplace sitcom. It loses a bit of spice but probably fits better with the rest of the network comedies. The show gets a nice bump from the network change.
The retooling continues in the third season. Only Nora, Camilla, and Dave survive the purge. Dave is the best secondary character but Dave stops being stupid and stops being fun. Holland Taylor is the other important actress. They join another paper with a whole new cast. Jake is a lesser Nicky but at least, he's more than Mark. The show loses its chemistry. Leoni even tries changing her hair. The viewership takes a nosedive and the show gets cancelled. It's a failure in retooling.
