Three episodes and it is gone. FOX has already cancelled "The Return of Jezebel James," starring Parker Posey and that redheaded chick from "Six Feet Under," and it probably will not be missed.
Posey starred as Sarah Tompkins, a high-flying, neurotic editor of children's books who discovered she could not conceive children. She turned to her estranged (and oh-so-opposite) sister Coco (played by Lauren Ambrose) to be her surrogate mother, and hilarity was supposed to ensue.
The show was not without its merits. "The Return of Jezebel James" was also the return of Amy Sherman-Palladino, the creator of "The Gilmore Girls." Sherman-Palladino is great at pop-culture references and witty turn-of-phrase, but where her writing on "The Gilmore Girls" was fast, fun and dynamic, her work on "Jezebel James" just fell flat. Why in the world, after "The Gilmore Girls," would Sherman-Palladino try her hand at an old-school, over-the-top, cheesy sitcom?
Audiences should no longer need laugh tracks to tell them when to find a show funny. The studio audience has been falling by the wayside in recent television comedies (thank goodness) so much that when we do encounter it, it now comes across as jarring rather than comfortably familiar - almost as jarring as Posey's performance.
It is odd to think of Posey doing comedy so timeworn and clichéd after her work in Christopher Guest's innovative movies, but she dove into her role with gusto. Her motto for the part might have been "go big or go home," since within the first 10 minutes of the pilot, Posey went into a full-on "I Love Lucy" crying session.
Despite its plot, the first episode was promising and clever. Unfortunately, the focus shifted to the Tompkins family in the second episode, and the show lost most of its originality. With more focus on Sarah's sister, it became more and more obvious that Ambrose as Coco, with her "I hate everything and everyone" attitude, was just really annoying.
The supporting characters in "Jezebel James" were surprisingly enjoyable. Marcus (Scott Cohen, who played Max on "The Gilmore Girls), Sarah's boyfriend, was a nice down-to-earth counterpoint to Sarah's whirlwind of a character, and her adorably frantic sycophant (who doesn't have one of those these days?) Buddy (Michael Arden), was given some fun moments. Despite the tired feel of the Tompkins family's dysfunction, Dianne Wiest was delightful as Sarah and Coco's mother. The supporting roles were either evidence of the show's promise or a sign that somewhere along the way, things went wrong.
FOX never gave "The Return of Jezebel James" a chance, which is a real shame considering the show's potential. First they doomed it with the tired laugh-track sitcom format, then even changed the sets and lighting between the first and second episodes to make it feel even more like every other sitcom we have ever seen before, and then after only three episodes, decided to just forget about the whole thing.
"The Return of Jezebel James" was not a great show, but it was often clever and at times, kind of cute. With some time and attention, it could have grown into a more-than-mediocre show that you watch because you get attached to the characters, and because as much as you think it is a pretty stupid show, it makes you laugh. "Good Morning Miami" lasted two seasons on the "it's stupid, but it makes me laugh" principle, so it is baffling to see "Jezebel James" disappear after only two weeks.
Though FOX has pulled it from the lineup, the three episodes that aired of "The Return of Jezebel James" can be watched in their entirety for free on FOX's Web site, www.fox.com.
