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ONE SEASON WONDERS: Welcome to New York

WELCOME TO NEW YORK














Programming Details:
October 11, 2000 - January 17, 2001
13 episodes
CBS

Starring: Christine Baranski, Jim Gaffigan, Anthony DeSando, Mary Birdsong, and Sara Gilbert, with Rocky Carroll
Created by: Barbara Wallace and Thomas R. Wolfe

Plot: Marsha Bickner (Baranski) is a larger than life producer of a morning show in New York City, "AM New York." She welcomes new weatherman Jim Gaffigan (Gaffigan) from Indiana to the station which also includes anchor Adrian Spencer (Carroll), Jim's assistant Vince (DeSando) and Marsha's assistant, Amy (Gilbert).


Brief Pilot Review:
There's a great cast here but it's not shocking to see that it didn't work because no one is at their best. Christine Baranski is always a force and the best part of the show but Jim Gaffigan is in an early career role where he didn't quite have his comedy down. It's also odd that he plays a character named Jim Gaffigan. Rocky Carroll is pretty irritating while Sara Gilbert seemed to be stuck playing annoying roles in between Roseanne and the revival of Roseanne/The Conners. 

I do think this could have grown into a decent sitcom if the cast was allowed to flex their muscles a little bit so that problem seems to fall on the writing. There's an awful lot of jokes about Jim being from Indiana, more than is needed in a 21 minute episode. Late in the pilot, the relationship between Baranski and Gaffigan takes an unusual twist that makes it seem like the rest of the series might be a little bit different than it first appeared but I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

What Went Wrong:
Welcome to New York had some things going for it when it launched in the Fall of 2000. It starred Christine Baranski, who was coming off an Emmy-winning turn on Cybill, and it followed one of the higher profile new shows on the schedule on Wednesday nights. Its lead-in was Bette, a sitcom starring Bette Midler. Welcome to New York also hailed from David Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants. So while it wasn't a sure bet, there were certainly reasons to be optimistic. The optimism continued with reviews that were decent though not raves. Variety called it "swiftly paced and smartly packaged." 

The optimism faded quickly though. Bette got off to a strong start but cratered very quickly in the ratings. Welcome to New York never got as high to begin with but was also dragged down with Bette. The series aired through the new year but was off the air after a few weeks into January and Bette followed it out the door a couple months later. Gaffigan has since criticized the show and its writing as he has stated he wished he would have been more involved with the creative direction. Gaffigan, Baranski and Gilbert were recognizable names going in and have of course had lots of success since the series ended.

Tomorrow: A look at the first season of That 70s Show!
Next Wednesday: A look at 1950s flop Blondie!
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