Thursday, August 11, 2005
Big fat belly laughs?
LARDY! Fat Actress, FX, 9.00pm
Improvised sitcoms. They're certainly a risky business. For every bit of credibility you establish by trying to be avant-garde and relying on the natural comic talents of your cast, you risk losing about three more if the whole shebang turns out to be a huge unfunny mess. So which end of the scale does Fat Actress fall on? Well, the jury's still pretty much out, to be honest. There are some detractors who don't seem to have picked up that the whole thing is a burlesque of Kirstie Alley's experiences of being a non-stick-like actress in LaLa land, and howl about how obnoxious the main character is and how Kirstie Alley doesn't seem to realise how cringeworthy this looks on TV. There are those who get the joke, but just don't think it works. And, of course, there are those who think the whole thing is kind of awesome. We're inclined to put ourselves in the third camp, not because we have any great confidence in the show itself, but more because for every debit in Kirstie Alley's career ledger, it will always be outweighed by the mammoth credit that was Drop Dead Gorgeous. The sidekicks look like they're good for a laugh - Kirstie's PA Eddie looks cute in a permanently befuddled sort of way, and Kevyn is on hand to provide hair, make-up and emotional support, if not the voice of intellectual reason. While it may not be able to boast the A-list guest stars of Extras (although it can provide Mayim Bialik of Blossom fame for two episodes), it definitely looks worth investigating.
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