The Return of Jezebel James

I've always loved Parker Posey, but this show makes me understand those who find her annoying. She's really, really irritating in this. Maybe she's just hoping to get this travesty canceled--she deserves so much better. I disagree with previous commentators, though--I think the laugh-track greatly adds to the humor. Without a laugh-track telling me someone said something funny, I wouldn't have even realized this was supposed to be a comedy.

This show reminds me of the worst 80's sitcoms. It's so contrived and poorly written and the characters are paper thin. I think the show has such a fast pace to keep viewers from realizing that no one is saying anything funny, insightful, or dramatic.

I really hope Sherman-Palladino pulls it together before JJ gets canceled (or she gets dragged off into the night by a torch-wielding mob that blames her for destroying Posey's career), but she can't have much time left. This show is terrible.

And just so you know, I loved Gilmore Girls.

i'm kinda surprised Posey and Sherman didn't fight the laugh track to their death. it's the main thing that confuses the tone of the show and probably contributed the most to the bad reviews. i expect theatre critics would be kinder to the show. many scenes seem more written for the stage than the screen, apparently another thing the audience has trouble accepting or comprehending. the show does have lulls, a lack of character depth, and reaches for unearned dramatic moments, but however flawed the presentation of ideas is, the ideas are at least present, there is at least some value placed on originality and creativity which is more than i can say for most shows.

I'm a huge fan of Gilmore Girls and a huge part of my fanship (fandom? I'm not sure how to verbinate "being a fan of") is the dialogue: quicked-witted and intensely smart, it appealed to me on a fairly deep level. More than that, there was a real sense of character to back up not only Lorelai and Rory that made them more than just cardboard cut-out clichés. There was heart as much as there was humor so naturally I expected to find the same things in Amy Sherman-Palladino's newest show. But as anyone can attest, you can give the likes of Shakespeare to an ill-equipped actor and it will come off as clumsy. Whether or not it's the fault of Amy having phoned in a script that seems like it was culled from dropped scripts of GG, the show just doesn't work. Fact of the matter is that Parker Posey is a horrible stand-in for Lauren Graham's comedic talents and Posey seems to be overacting the material in front of her when the brilliance of AS-P's writing is that the jokes work best when the only laughing is from the viewer and not the "live studio audience". The laugh track *kills* the humor in the show.

What's more is that the dynamic between Sarah (Posey) and her on-screen younger sister Coco feels like it was transplanted haphazardly from Gilmore Girls, with Coco acting the role of Rory. It's infuriating because it feels like AS-P got lazy and went for the cheap laugh. I rate this show poorly because I feel that Amy Sherman-Palladino had the chance to follow up the six years of Gilmore Girls she was present for with another hit and that instead she delivered a thinly veiled insult to television audiences en masse.

Having read sometime ago that Sherman was on a new project and being a big fan of Gilmore Girls, one can imagine how much I was anticipating The Return of Jezebel James...I'm not an experienced TV critic, I know nothing of camera angles and all that. What I do know is that the show just...sucked! I can't seem to figure out whether the script is rubbish or just the acting. Parker Posey where I'm concerned was downright ridiculous in Boston Legal and certainly hasn't found her tempo here...Everyone involved exudes awkwardness on an embarrassing level. It's evident that they're trying too hard to make this super-hip-tongue-in-cheek....not buying it. Definitely not Gilmore Girls unfortunately...not by a long shot

Amy is BRILLIANT! Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose in a sitcom together with "sisterly banter", is what I look forward to now every Friday evening. The collaboration of Parker Posey, Lauren Ambrose, and Amy's brilliant dialogue is GENIUS! The perfect premise of today's women unable to conceive, the love of sisters becoming reaquainted by childhood memories and unselfishness, and what a better way to title a show or tell a cute story by coalescing on a children's book. This show is everything a female in her late 20's and early 30's have always wanted to watch in a television comedy! I rarely watch television, but I love every aspect of this show. Genius, just genius!