Adam's post about Herman's Head (which was one of my favorite shows during my college years, by the way) got me thinking of the FOX Sunday lineup in those heady days when The Simpsons was still considered subversive and FOX was as small as The CW. Ironically, between Bart and Co., Married... With Children, and Herman's Head, the lineup was probably a lot stronger then than it is now, even though FOX is now a bigger network with more resources to create quality programming.Part of that early-nineties Sunday lineup was Flying Blind (1992-93), which starred (a very red-headed and very hot) Téa Leoni and Corey Parker as a mismatched couple making their way through the early days of their relationship. Leoni played the firery ingenue Alicia, full of life and adventurous as hell. Parker was nebbishy Neil, who seemed to fumble and stumble over every sentence but was devoted to Alicia. I mean, who wouldn't? She was just about perfect. So perfect, in fact, that I always wondered why she was ever with Neil to begin with.
Besides that wonderation, what I remember about the show were these multi-line soliloquies that went in all sorts of neurotic directions to get to the joke. While that got a bit tiresome after a while, at the time of the show's premiere, that was the aspect of the show that stood out to me.
Besides Téa, that is. She was a revelation in this role, with her wild red hair and revealing clothing. She seemed to bring an enthusiasm to Alicia that not even Jenna Elfman, who played the free-spirit role in the similar Dharma & Greg, came close to displaying. She was a goddess in this role, and almost all of the dressed-down roles she's played since have paled in comparison to Alicia. I'm not sure why the show only lasted one year, given the talent both in front of and behind the camera (James Burrows directed some episodes, and Linwood Boomer of Malcolm in the Middle was one of the writers). But when it was on the air, it was mostly an enjoyable show to watch. I have some episodes on videotape somewhere; I should dig them up and watch.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-28-2008 @ 8:03PM
Chazz said...
Two things that really stuck with me about that show were how hot Tea Leoni looked with red hair and the theme song. If it's ever available on dvd I'd definetely buy it for the memories.
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5-25-2006 @ 1:00PM
Liza said...
i LOVED Herman's Head and Flying Blind!!! Tea Leoni had the most daring wardrobe on that show!! and her hair!!
who was the guy who played Herman? i haven't seen in ages.
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5-25-2006 @ 1:13PM
doc said...
That is an excellent short-lived show post Joel. Flying Blind should be on the Brilliant But Cancelled list, or available on DVD. In time I suppose.
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5-25-2006 @ 1:57PM
illwafer said...
MAMALLO (sp)!!
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5-25-2006 @ 3:25PM
Mase said...
"Flying Blind" was during the hey-day of FOX sunday programming (which included "The Simpsons", "Herman's Head" and the great, but short-lived, "The Ben Stiller Show"). I tuned into "Flying Blind" based on Corey Parker's role in "How I Got into College" and thought it was a good, quirky show that Tea Leoni made very good.
Thanks for remembering the show!
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5-25-2006 @ 4:49PM
Mike Hoffpauir said...
I thought it was someone else not Corey Parker but I guess its been awhile. How bout doin a top 10 or even 20 shows cancelled before there time. Some more besides this one (and ones already mentioned recently like Greg the Bunny) are Titus, Dark Angel, Andy Richter, My So-Called Life (caught it on MTV), Firefly, The Flash (excellent costume & special effects for its time) hmmm probably forgetting a lot more but these are just mine. Also not mentioning ones that had a good life but I still wish were on like Buffy.
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5-26-2006 @ 6:08PM
Chadly said...
I remember this show. I loved Tea Leoni but I couldn't stand Corey Parker's character. I'd watch for her but he made me cringe so badly. I think I gave up on it before it was cancelled. I was glad to see her get other roles later, even if none of them were as fun as Alicia.
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6-06-2006 @ 7:36PM
mark b said...
I remember this show being shown late on UK tv early-to-mid 90s. Caught it by accident and was hooked, although I can't remember much about it now. Remember that Leoni was incredibly attractive and I liked the idea of a beautiful vivacious woman being interested in a geek (being a bit of a geek myself! Also I was dating a beautiful vivacious girl at the time and was probably having the same neurotic thoughts about hanging onto this woman as the hero was!).
Would love to see it again and see if it was as good as I hardly remember (probably not - these things never are, are they?!)
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6-08-2006 @ 10:54AM
martY said...
I absolutely LOVED Flying Blind. To this day my friends and I still quote lines from that series. Tea was fantastic and Corey was hysterical. They both played to each other brilliantly. Even Heyden Church in his breif appearances was very funny.
The show was definitely before it's time, if it had been on fox now it would have had a better chance, back then it was in league with Seinfeld, but fox was so young then...
I have a copy of one of the original scripts but haven't been able to dig up the show on vhs or dvd anywhere, and would gladly pay anyone for copies. Contact me at martwhy@yahoo.com if anyone has them please!
From the show...
"Hochman is the fudge for me, it's so rich and chocolatey, when I want something sweet, theres nothing I'd rather eat!
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2-16-2009 @ 6:20PM
Nylund said...
I was thirteen when this was on the air and oh God was I ever in love with Tea Leoni. I thought she was the most gorgeous and energetic woman I had ever laid my eyes on.
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10-30-2006 @ 10:25PM
Lane Wright said...
I remember "Flying Blind" as an unusually sophisticated and adult comedy unlike anything else that was on television at the time. It was probably just too offbeat for most people, but I remember it as being hilarious. And since no one has mentioned her, I have to add that the supporting cast included the wonderful Clea Lewis as Megan Marcus, Alicia's drily funny roommate.
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5-21-2008 @ 4:11PM
bonneaux said...
i loved flying blind and am still in love with tea based on that show! my line up at that time was hermans head, flying blind, get a life, and down the shore.