jean smart-related stories
Posted Jul 15th 2009 4:29PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, 30 Rock, Awards, Weeds, Emmys, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory

When it comes to the Primetime Emmy nominations, there are scads of terrific supporting performances to choose from in the comedy field. The difficulty is narrowing it down to just six actors and six actresses (which is better than last year's five each). Maybe the Emmys should take a page from the Academy Awards and double the number of nominations -- this year's Best Picture will include ten noms. That's not going to happen, but that doesn't mean my wish list discussion can't mention all those worthy comedy performers.
Last year's comedy winners,
Jean Smart for
Samantha Who? and Jeremy Piven for
Entourage, were both multiple winners. In Jean's case, it wasn't all for the same role, but Jeremy has been pulling a John Larroquette/Don Knotts in this category. (Larroquette and Knotts dominated this category; the former winning for
Night Court from 1985-88, while Knotts won five times for
The Andy Griffith Show from 1961-67). My wish list would start by shaking things up.
Continue reading Emmy Wish List: Supporting Categories - Comedy
Posted Jul 10th 2009 3:27PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Watercooler Talk, Reality-Free

Samantha Who? is going to be a trivia question one day.
What was the name of that comedy on ABC that got good reviews and pretty good ratings and people seemed to like it and then ABC canceled it? Of course, that could probably describe quite a few shows the past several years, but I think the cancellation of
Samantha Who? surprised a lot of people when ABC had
their upfront a couple of months ago. Now they're doubling up on episodes this summer.
Posted Feb 24th 2009 8:01PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Celebrities, Reality-Free

Let's say you were trapped in an elevator with
Samantha Who? star Christina Applegate. Just you and her, stuck between the 7th and 8th floors of a high-rise, waiting for someone to come and get the elevator moving again so you won't be late for your Pilates class. What question would you ask her?
Well,
you have the chance to ask Applegate anything you want, and you don't even have to be trapped in a box. It's actually via
Outside The Box, over at AOL Television. You can submit a question to either Applegate, Jean Smart, or Barry Watson. If your question is chosen they'll even use your name and where you're from. You can even leave your question in the comments section below.
I have no idea if you'd want to ask Applegate about
Married...With Children or Smart about
Designing Women or Watson about 7th Heaven. But if you do ask Watson something about that show, I'd like to know if Jessica Biel is still going out with Justin Timberlake or if she's available.
Posted Nov 1st 2008 1:27PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free

I can't say I've been thrilled with some of the announced pick ups for the remainder of the season.
NBC's faith in Knight Rider, for instance, has me scratching my head. Here's one that I can get behind:
ABC has given Samantha Who a full season pick up.
The Christina Applegate single camera comedy -- which includes Jean Smart's Emmy-winning supporting performance as
Sam's alternately attentive and annoying mother -- has had a terrific sophomore season thus far.
I'm not talking about the ratings, although ABC is pleased that the show has been doing a good job holding onto the strong lead-in from
Dancing With the Stars (although this is not a scintillating edition of
Dancing). For me,
Samantha Who is just as funny as last year, but now things are getting more complicated and interesting.
Just last week, for instance, Sam was given an experimental drug to -- hopefully -- help her reclaim lost memories. Through flashback flashes we learned a lot more about Todd and Sam's relationship and how they've gotten to where they are. The episode was packed with emotion and funny bits of business, and yet in the end we were still on that precipice, waiting for Sam to remember that she loves Todd.
Continue reading ABC books a full season of Samantha Who
Posted Jul 4th 2008 8:50AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Entourage, My Name Is Earl, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, Celebrities, 30 Rock, Ugly Betty, Weeds, Emmys, Pushing Daisies, Samantha Who?, Reality-Free
Here come two more lists of the ten actors and actresses that are finalists for Emmy nominations in the supporting comedy categories. As with the other awards, there are some surprises on the list, and some notable omissions. For the ladies, the headline is that last year's winner, Jaime Pressly (My Name Is Earl), didn't make the cut. Surprise finalists include Conchata Ferrell (Two And A Half Men) and Amy Poehler (Saturday Night Live). I don't mind seeing Conchata on the list because she is consistently funny on the show, but I don't know that there is enough to her role for her to actually garner a nomination when you consider the competition.
On the other side of the coin, the defending champ, Jeremy Piven (Entourage), is back. None of the boys over at SNL managed to make the leap from Variety to Comedy that Poehler did.
Continue reading Supporting comedy actor and actress finalists
Posted Jun 16th 2008 11:02AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: 24, Interviews, Celebrities, Samantha Who?, Reality-Free

Jean Smart is one of TV's most popular and prodigious actresses. Capable of doing comedy and drama equally well, it seems that not a season passes without Jean making her mark. This past year, she was wonderful as Christina Applegate's mother on
Samantha Who? The two-time Emmy winner (for guesting on
Frasier), is likely to win an Emmy nomination, which
I discussed with her recently. But what about her other TV work. Here's some thoughts about
24, Designing Women and other TV memories. And find out what she thinks is the best show ever on television!
Allison Waldman: What are your memories from playing Charlene Frazier on Designing Women?
Jean Smart: There are so many. Of course, meeting my husband (Richard Gilliland). I met him on the fifth episode and we hadn't even been on the air yet. I remember the chemistry that we all had together, which was so much fun. When my character got married on the show, I found out I was pregnant, so I got it in just under the wire. Charlene was a good Baptist girl, she couldn't be pregnant without being married.
Continue reading Jean Smart: The TV Squad interview
Posted May 12th 2008 11:42PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Samantha Who?, Reality-Free
(S01E15) "It's my birthday?" - SamEven if it wasn't an earth-shattering or intense episode,
Samantha Who?'s season finale was satisfying. The episode wrapped up the Chloe/Todd relationship, clarified where Sam and Todd stand, and gave Sam another clean slate (she got the first one after when she woke up from the coma with amnesia). It also marked the first time that all series regulars shared a scene together.
Continue reading Samantha Who?: The Birthday (season finale)
Posted May 5th 2008 11:41PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Samantha Who?, Reality-Free
(S01E14) "My mother is having an affair." - SamanthaHow fun is it to watch the Newlys interact? I enjoyed this week's episode because it mainly focused on the weird trio that Samantha forms with her parents. Those of you who've been reading my
Samantha Who? reviews regularly know how my I love Regina because of her snarky lines and craziness. After "The Affair," Howard is definitely growing on me.
Continue reading Samantha Who?: The Affair
Posted Apr 29th 2008 10:21AM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Samantha Who?, Reality-Free
(S01E13) "I can get a guy by tomorrow." - SamanthaThis line may not have been the funniest one of the episode but it had major implications for both Sam and Todd. What if she hadn't been able to find a date for the gallery show? What if she found a guy who turned out to be prince charming and not a mugger? Those two possibilities could have totally changed the ending of the episode, meaning that Todd could still be thinking of Chloe instead of Sam. Luckily for us, Sam found Jerry O'Connell, who was trying to get in his car using a hanger since his
Carpoolers friends left him on the curb, and he turned out to not be
the guy for our Sam.
Continue reading Samantha Who?: The Gallery Show
Posted Apr 21st 2008 11:43PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Samantha Who?, Reality-Free
(S01E12) "Your friend. I want her. Make it happen." - ChapmanIf ABC hadn't decided to air 15 episodes of
Samantha Who? this season, this episode could have served as a season finale. It not only sent Sam in the unknown (she quit her job at the end of the episode) but the episode also ended with an important kiss that could have Todd rethink his decision to give Chloe a chance and have us wonder for months what his decision would be. But, thanks to
SW? being popular, we will get answers to these questions before the season ends and will get a new set of questions to ponder on all summer long.
Continue reading Samantha Who?: The Butterflies
Posted Apr 15th 2008 12:00AM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Samantha Who?, Reality-Free

(S01E11) "Marry me." - Winston Funk to SamThis week's episode of
Samantha Who? ended up being quite satisfying and I'm not just saying that because the stable boy kissed the amnesiac heroine (which surely pleased the 52.5% of people who voted for "Sam & Todd forever" in
our last poll). We were treated with crazy Regina, romance novelist wannabe Dena, teenager with a huge crush Andrea, and smitten with a potential son-in-law Howard. What more can we ask for? Especially after that "look at what you made me do" kiss!
Continue reading Samantha Who?: The Boss
Posted Apr 7th 2008 11:06PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Samantha Who?, Reality-Free
(S01E10) "I love you." - Todd to ChloeFirst, I must thank ABC for the fun
Samantha Who? marketing campaign they did these past two weeks or so. I know that the fun ads during which Samantha and her mother talked about a song that meant a lot to Regina, or during which Samantha presented her boyfriend, er, ex-boyfriend, Todd, had an effect on some non-watchers (a few of my friends asked me what the show was about and planned on watching the show this week). Let's hope more join the fun.
Secondly, our favorite amnesiac is back on TV! Yay! This cutesy series is definitely one I enjoy watching a lot thanks to Samantha's duality (evil-Sam versus good-Sam), very well played by Christina Applegate, and thanks to Jean Smart and the devilish Andrea, played by Jennifer Esposito.
That said, let's get to the important part of this post: the review.
Continue reading Samantha Who?: The Girlfriend
Posted Dec 14th 2007 10:01AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, 24, Boston Legal, The Shield, My Name Is Earl, Festivus, Heroes, 30 Rock, TV Squad Lists, Damages, Journeyman, Dirty Sexy Money, Samantha Who?
... Six welcome returns.
Every fall season I get stoked about all the new shows, with cool new premises ("A guy travels through time trying to make right what once went wrong!"-- Journeyman not Quantum Leap), and all the big changes in store for existing shows. But it's equally exciting to see which beloved actors will be returning to television. Brad Garrett coming back to television in 'Til Death last year? Cool! Patricia Heaton and Kelsey Grammer both coming back to television ... together? That's gotta be awesome, right? Jerry O'Connell on Carpoolers ... well ... ? I like the guy, but I'm not scheduling a 'Welcome Back' shindig for him.
Half the fun of a new television season is the return of great actors and actresses to the small screen. And while I could have easily done 10 or even 20 of these, I've narrowed it down to the six talents who were most welcome back in my house on a weekly basis this past year. I've even been so bold as to rank them. Feel free to agree, disagree and present your own lists in the comments.
Continue reading On the 6th Day of Festivus, TV gave to me...
Posted Dec 10th 2007 11:17PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Samantha Who?
(S01E09) "Without you, I would be nothing." - Sam to Regina
"You wouldn't be nothing; you'd just be less." - ReginaThis week's episode was important in Samantha's life: she slept with a man (thus ending her "virgin" status), she learned to express her feelings and said "I love you," she suffered her first post-accident break up and she learned to be a better boss.
Continue reading Samantha Who?: The Break Up
Posted Dec 4th 2007 12:47AM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Samantha Who?
(S01E08) "Having amnesia is like an obstacle course." - SamanthaI never suffered from amnesia but from what we've been seeing for now eight episodes, amnesia does seem to be like an obstacle course or, as the cast picture on the right shows, a maze. Samantha has to overcome obstacles put in her path because she doesn't fully know herself or the world she lives in. She must make her way through life without having a map to guide her. It's trial and error. This week, Samantha had to decide between lying and telling the truth and how it would affect her father.
Continue reading Samantha Who?: The Car
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