Stacked

Pamela Anderson is a Fox sitcom. I know it is hard to believe but she is actually very good in this show. She pokes fun at herself. This show has a great, talented cast like Tony award winning Marissa Jaret Winokur who won her Tony for playing Ricki Lake's role in the Broadway musical, Hairspray. Of course, Christopher Lloyd plays a retired professor who frequently visits the bookstore as his second home. Think of Norm at Cheers. Christopher Lloyd is always welcome anywhere. The show, Stacked, is set in a bookstore starring Pamela Anderson who plays pretty much herself who wants to change her life. Of course, being so beautiful, she reminds the group of their own insecurities and desires. Of course, Marissa who plays Katrina cannot help but envy Pamela Anderson. She jokes "Even I want a piece of that." The customers do not seem to mind their car getting towed if they get served by Skyler, Pamela's character. Pamela's Skyler adds much needed excitement and diversity to this much need bookstore, Stacked. After all the owner jokes "It's not Hooters, it's Stacked!" Please watch this show! Even if your not a fan of Pamela Anderson or if you are. Show your support! She just surprises you.

Pamela Anderson hits a home run with this show. She is very comfortable as this character, and this ensemble works perfectly together along with consistent writing. A very simple set-up, using almost exclusively one setting, dialog is fresh and funny without being busy or repetitive. All characters are well-played by confident staff. This is a quintessential example of a situation-comedy: not preachy, not pushy, not offensive, and not boring. Unusually fresh and relaxed, it is a pleasure and true enjoyment to watch. Too bad people will remember Anderson for 2nd rate products like "VIP", and a shining performance like this goes largely unknown.

When I first saw "Stacked" advertised, I thought, "oh no, not another average sit-com based around a once famous personality" (Cybil, Jenny, Fat Actress, The Comeback etc etc). But this was different. For once, the main personality in the show, in this case Pamela Anderson, was an asset and not a hindrance. Her character and her performance fit in with the other characters, instead of the other characters revolving around the "most famous" person on the show.

Another good thing about Stacked is its consistency. It reminds me of Cheers in its heyday; consistently funny with solid characters. Unlike the very excellent 'My Name is Earl', which varies wildly from week to week as to how the characters behave, Stacked is much more solid and satisfying, because of this. It's also pretty unique to see something so well crafted in this day and age.

The entire cast is brilliant. I wasn't immediately enamored with the casting of the two brothers who run the store, but I soon warmed to their characters. Christopher Lloyd is absolutely on form, delivering his lines with the comedy precision of a master, knowing how to make one line turn from a chuckle into a gut-laugh. Even Pamela Anderson, not known for comedy talent, has a character which fits her personality perfectly, while allowing her to drop some great lines and still seem like the same person.

Every character in this sit-com feels "right" and you can only imagine the amount of time and effort that must have gone into making this happen.

Stacked is never mean-spirited, overly cynical or even topical, it's just brilliantly crafted, constistently funny, top-quality entertainment. It echoes Cheers in its heyday - whatever happened to shows like this? I hope Stacked finds its audience and remains as good as the first season, and then keeps running for years to come! It deserves to!

I think people should give this show a chance, because it's really funny! The show contains a great combination of funny characters, who you learn to know very quickly. Pamela Anderson also plays pretty good as Skyler Dayton, this blonde party girl who suddenly starts working at a book store, from what she has very little experience. Of course a lot of people think that this is just a shallow sitcom men watch just to see Pamela Anderson, but it has so much more.

It's like a combination of Cheers, "Step by Step", Becker and "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place". Pamela's role reminds a little of Suzanne Somers when she plays the mom in "Step by step", Christopher Lloyd who plays Harold, the bitter older man who's there always, got the attitude of Becker, and the brothers are a little like the two guys in "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place". They are brothers, but they are very different from each other and not exactly best friends. The whole atmosphere is a little like the atmosphere in Cheers. It also has some things in common with "Friends", like when they are slandering the funny customers in the store, and sometimes even dating them.

A lot of people told me how stupid this show was going to be but when I decided to watch it, I was laughing my ass off! Pamela Anderson stars in her 4th TV-series as Skyler Dayton who starts a new life as an employee at a bookstore called "Stacks" and gives up being a party girl and making bad choices in boyfriends and that sort of stuff. "Stacks" is owned by Gavin Dewitt (Tom Everett Scott) and his brother, Stuart (Brian Scolaro). Divorced and unlucky in love himself, Gavin's inclined to regard Skyler as an embodiment of the vacuous, image-obsessed culture he has come to abhor. Stuart, however, is dazzled by Skyler's beauty and, much to Gavin's horror, offers her a job at their store, which she happily accepts as the first step in her quest for a steadier lifestyle. Unhappy that she's going to be minding the till next to such an intimidating bombshell is the store's sole other employee, Katrina (Marissa Jaret Winokur), who doles out doses of realism and cynicism. Rounding out the characters is the store's one steady customer, Harold March (Christopher Lloyd) a preeminent but retired rocket scientist. But I was laughing my ass off when I watched this series! I think this show could be the next "Just Shoot Me" or some other workplace sitcom series that is famous and funny. This show premiered on FOX back in April 2005.

User Rating: 8/10

BOTTOM LINE: HILARIOUS!