Watching Ellie -- A TV Review
The Seinfeld Curse. That is a term that has been thrown around a lot lately and in some cases, for good reason. "Seinfeld" which was arguably the greatest sitcom ever produced, made household names out of its quartet of stars. Upon completion of it's critically acclaimed and highly rated 9 seasons, the question was left open, what next for the fab four? Jerry chose wisely to redirect his efforts back into stand up comedy where he got his start. The others opted to stay in the television pool and to this time have not yet been able to translate their previous success into another hit program. Case in point being the dreadful Michael Richards Show (which had the former Kramer cast as a dim witted private investigator) and Jason Alexander's uninspired program Bob Patterson (which had Costanza playing a motivational speaker). Both shows tanked in a matter of a few short weeks. Thus the curse…

Now it's Julia Louise Dreyfus's turn…

Watching Ellie, which is the brainchild of Julia's real life husband Brad Hall, is a high concept new program that takes place in real time. The show provides the audience a weekly 22 minute glimpse into the life of Ellie (Julia), a struggling lounge singer. The show is shot on film (a la Sex in the City), has no studio audience, no laugh track, and is complete with a clock that sits in the left hand side of the screen that counts down the 22 minutes. Innovative to say the very least.

The show comes with its own share of bizarre supporting cast members including Ellie's sister Susan (Lauren Bowles), the freak ex boyfriend Edgar (wonderfully played by Steve Carell), the wacky ethnic neighbor Ingvar (Peter Stormare), and the new beau Ben (Darren Boyd). None of these characters are really breaking any new ground, however, the strength of the show is rooted firmly in its unique concept.

What the real time element provides, besides just a clever hook, is real moments. The pauses, the reactions, and the hesitations are something that is usually lacking in normal sitcoms as we are constantly cutting from one joke to the next. Here the characters dialogue seems more realistic. The pacing of the program is also quite different. If Ellie runs outside to meet someone, we follow her all the way outside…we watch her the entire time (so it's just not a clever name then?). The real time aspect of the show helps create that "real life" feel. This program is not situational based and rather it's a further extension of the "show about nothing" concept that Seinfeld pioneered.

Though not a far stretch from the Elaine character, Ellie is very likeable. This speaks volumes to the skills of Julia Louise Dreyfus who has excellent comedic timing. She seems like a woman we all know and someone we would want to hang out with. So in essence, she is the ideal television character; a character we would want to revisit week to week.

So has the curse been lifted? It may be too early to say just yet, however succeed or fail, Julia Louise Dreyfus has tried something ambitious in terms of television...doing a show with an innovative idea. Something her former cohorts chose to avoid. It remains to be seen how long we will be watching Ellie, but in the meantime it's worth the 22 minutes a week.

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