ONE SEASON WONDERS: Double Rush

On Wednesdays, I take a look at a series that lasted one season or less. This week, I am looking at Double Rush!

DOUBLE RUSH

January 4, 1995 - April 12, 1995
12 episodes
CBS

Starring: Robert Pastorelli, David Arquette, Corinne Bohrer, Adam Goldberg, D.L. Hughley, Phil Leeds, Sam Lloyd

Created by: Stephen Nathan & Diane English

Plot: Double Rush is set in the busy world of a Manhattan bicycle delivery service. Johnny Verona (Pastorelli) is the gruff owner who once had dreams of being a rock star. He deals with a unique group of employees including quintessential Gen X-er, Leo (Goldberg), the overqualified Zoe (Bohrer), a spaced out disaptcher, Barkley (Lloyd), a daredevil named Hunter (Arquette) who loves to fly around the city, smooth talking Marlon (Hughley) and a 75 year old nicknamed "The Kid" (Leeds). 

Brief Pilot Review:

This has to be the first and only series ever set at a bicycle delivery service so I have to give it credit for originality in a setting. Pretty much any other workplace, even some odd ones, I can name a couple shows that dabbled there. But I can't think of any other show with this setting. The best thing about this pilot is that I felt like, had it been given time, it could have turned into a very solid workplace comedy. I definitely had vibes of Taxi and Cheers when watching the first episode even though this pilot was not as sure of itself as the pilots of those two classics. The quirky cast of characters set in a high energy location plus a character (Zoe) filling the Diane Chambers role made those comparisons pretty easy and, unlike some complete trash sitcoms, it wasn't completely an unfavorable comparison.

The show had a tremendous cast with a lot of people who had success before or after the show but I wasn't totally sold on Robert Pastorelli as the centerpiece to the company. He wasn't anywhere close to as likable as Ted Danson's Sam Malone or Judd Hirsch's Alex Reiger to continue the Cheers and Taxi comparisons. It was hard to see imagine how lovable a quirky work family could become with him at the center. In general, the cast didn't gel all that well in the pilot though I think a lot of them could have gotten there (though Adam Goldberg's shtick got old even in the pilot. Imagine Eddie on Friends being a series regular because that's what it was. The show had some cool location scenes of the bikes in action and tried to be a little edgy in its shooting style which only worked to moderate success.

What Went Wrong:

Double Rush was launched as part of a new Wednesday comedy block on CBS. It was an unusual scheduling strategy with the two new shows - Rush and last week's One Season Wonder Women of the House - taking the anchor slots. Meanwhile, two struggling veteran shows - Hearts Afire and Love & War - were in the half hour slots. Double Rush came from Diane English, who created Murphy Brown and Love & War and she brought Brown co-star Robert Pastorelli to the lead role. Double Rush received mixed reviews. Deseret News called it "strangely flat and unfunny" while Variety called it "amiable." 

The comedy lineup launched in January 1995 with Double Rush airing at 9pm but the ratings for the whole block were bad from the jump. The entire lineup was yanked after just five weeks. While the other three shows were basically done at that point, Double Rush got a second chance. After February Sweeps, it returned to Wednesdays airing at 8:30pm after the new The George Wendt Show. It lasted another six weeks before it was pulled from the lineup with one episode unaired. Many of the stars have continued to have success though Pastorelli tried one more series (Cracker) in 1997 before his death in 2004.

Tomorrow: A look at Season 4 (Part 1) of Happy Days!

Next Wednesday: A One Season Wonder look at Extreme!