Lucy Chadman (Shelley Long) is a former-teacher Long Island housewife uncomfortable with the high class parties required by her ambitious Manhattan surgeon Jason (Corbin Bernsen) looking to be chief of plastic surgery at the Knickerbocker. Her gold-digging college friend Kim Lacey (Sela Ward) is three-times-married and looking for a fourth. Her son Danny is a passionate chef. Her sister Zelda (Judith Ivey) is an odd character dabbling in witchcraft. Lucy chokes to death on a South Korean chicken ball from Zelda. Exactly one year later, Zelda uses a spellbook to bring back Lucy. She finds the world has changed. Danny didn't go to Columbia and instead, opened his own restaurant. Jason married Kim and sold the house. She returns to the Knickerbocker ER to talk to Dr. Kevin Scanlon (Gabriel Byrne) who treated her a year ago. Unbeknownst to her, she needs to find true love by the next full moon.
This is not that funny. Shelley Long's pratfalls are awkward and unfunny. The first half of the story is good. The romance takes a long time to start. Gabriel Byrne doesn't show up until the end of the first act and even later for him to fully be a character. The second half of the story is clunky after the world discovers her return from the dead. This is simply not funny enough and I put most of that on writer Susan Isaacs. Director Frank Perry does a workmanlike job but his comedic takes are not laugh worthy either. The romance is fine and I kinda like the wacky sister.
