Crossroads Café

Just caught the pilot episode of this show and was intrigued. Didn't realize the show was designed to teach English until the mini-English lesson in the middle, describing the function of "What is your name?" and "Where are you from?" Was wondering why all of the characters were enunciating their words so much and pausing a bit after each line.

Though it looks like the show was made in 1996, the characters seem to be stuck in the 80s. Seems a little too conservative for my tastes, a very "G" rated television show, but obviously more suited for non-English speakers who might not be able to pick up the subtle nuances of humor in the English language. The main character (the cafe owner) has a really bad accent - seems forced. The show seems to try too hard to include characters from each and every race (White, eastern European, Hispanic, African-American, Asian, and Indian) and tries a little too hard to be PC.