Ned and Stacey

I am insanely critical of comedies (as you'd find out if you browsed through my movie reviews) and I tend to despise sitcoms in general, but "Ned and Stacey" was one of those sitcoms I actually embraced. I recall enjoying the show when I was a teenager, so I figured it was worth purchasing the first season on DVD. Well, it was a delightful trip down memory lane. I still find the show very funny, and it makes me feel even more proud that Thomas Haden Church is now a household name. Way, way before "Sideways" came out, there was "Ned and Stacey." Church's impeccable comic timing definitely contributes to the magnitude of the show. I didn't feel he was annoying or over-the-top, like some of the other IMDb users. Trust me, I have a low tolerance for obnoxious comic actors. But Church has a unique comic ability that is comparable to few others. Debra Messing was great on the show as well. I'm not a "Will and Grace" fan, and thought the show was completely overrated. I wasn't impressed by Messing on that show, but I think that was mainly because she was working with less-than-satisfactory material. When she did "N & S," she hadn't had any sitcom experience. But her delivery and timing of each joke was solid. Not to mention the chemistry between her and Church was solid. To top it all off, the show was blessed with a fine supporting cast. Nadia Dajani and Greg Germann rounded out the superb cast. The dynamic between Church and Germann is hilarious, with Church being the loudmouth and Germann being the soft-spoken pushover. No one plays a soft-spoken pushover better than Germann. And Dajani was pitch-perfect at playing a pure cynic who's always prepared with a smart-aleck remark. My only mild criticism of the show was the segments during the closing credits. I've never been a fan of movies or TV shows playing outtakes over the credits. It's fun watching them in Jackie Chan flicks, because we find out the difficulty it takes for him to perform his elaborate stunts. But in other cases...what's the friggin' use? When the show didn't play outtakes over the credits, it played alternate scenes where ridiculous things would happen, like Dajani's character being poisoned by Ned by him slipping arsenic into her drink. Again....what's the use? But that's about the only bad things I can say about "Ned and Stacey." At the heart of the show is a brilliant premise: Two single people being forced to pretend like they're married, while juggling their individual love lives? Pure brilliance. And for those of you who don't live on the East Coast, the concept of marrying someone to get an apartment in Manhattan is not too far out of whack. It's slightly unfortunate that the show was canceled after its second season, but not too unfortunate. At least the show wasn't too hyped up and didn't run into its tenth season, in which the writers would inevitably run out of ideas and conjure up ridiculous premises for episodes and tack on celebrity cameos, whether they make sense or not. Now that we're in the DVD age, it's not too late to check out this underrated gem. Even if you don't want to cough up the cash for a DVD, you can probably find reruns of it playing on USA or some other basic cable channel.

I loved Thomas Hayden Church here as Ned and I prefer Debra Messing here as Stacey than Grace. I think this show could have been a bigger hit if the network allowed it to grow. The premise was silly but somehow Church and Messing made it work even if only for two seasons. Church left his beloved role on Wings to pursue his own sitcom. The comparison between the two roles is noteworthy for any aspiring actor. Here, Ned is intelligent and lot less naive. He marries Stacey to get a promotion and she marries him to live in a grand New York City apartment. What won't people do to live in Manhattan? At first, there is this friction and uncomfortableness but slowly they turn out to be in love and if only love was really like that. The show was heading in the direction that Ned and Stacey were going from being a fax pas couple to an actual duo. Too bad, the network canceled it. Of course, Church has moved on to other things and Messing will always be known as Grace but I much prefer her here as Stacey.

Ned and Stacey was a good show. There was clever and well writing. The cast was great, most notably Thomas Haden Church (Lowell from Wings). There were a lot of great gags that fit in perfect with this show. It's a shame the show was so short lived. Would I recommend this show? Yes. Catch the reruns on the USA Network.

I miss this show! Thomas Haden Church was always funny as Lowell on "Wings", and proved his talent even further on "Ned and Stacey". It was also no surprise to see Debra Messing go on to such success as Grace, of "Will and Grace". Thomas Haden Church's character, Ned, had the best wardrobe ever on T.V.! The dialogue was intelligent and witty. The premise, though contrived, was more believable than most sit-coms. I would like to see this show released on DVD, and I would really like to see Church in another show.

Thomas Haden Church, sorta playing the smart evil twin of his character on "Wings" and Debra Messing, basically preparing for her role as Grace, was a good pair on this comedy. It only lasted for about two years, but it was a superior product, and had that fun edge that many shows these days only strive for.