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Less than Perfect

 
TV Series:

Less Than Perfect

 
  • Movie Type: Sitcom, Workplace Comedy
  • Themes: Office Politics
  • Director: Ted Wass
  • Main Cast: Sara Rue, Sherri Shepherd, Andrea Parker, Zachary Levi, Andy Dick
  • Release Year: 2002
  • Country: US
  • Run Time: 30 minutes

Plot

The charming, pleasantly plump Sara Rue starred on this ABC sitcom as Claudia "Claude" Casey, a "permanent temp" working in various low-level clerical capacities in a TV news department. Claude's amusingly self-deprecating self image was given a boost when she was appointed assistant to Will Butler (Eric Roberts), the TV station's preening peacock of an anchorman. This sudden field commission from the ranks of the "peons" did not sit at all well with Claude's snooty new colleagues Lydia (Andrea Parker) and Kipp (Zachary Levi), who began concocting schemes to topple the heroine from her lofty perch. Fortunately, Claude could count on the support and encouragement from two subordinate employees who "knew her when," Owen (Andy Dick in a less manic replay of his NewsRadio character) and Ramona (Sherri Shepherd). Sort of a Mary Tyler Moore Show with weight issues, Less Than Perfect premiered October 1, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

Eric Roberts - Will

Credit

Michael Hynes - Art Director, Julie Mossberg - Casting, Jill Anthony - Casting, Ted Wass - Director, Peter Beyt - Editor, Nina Wass - Executive Producer, Terry Minsky - Executive Producer, Gene Stein - Executive Producer, Jonathan Wolff - Composer (Music Score), Tony Askins - Cinematographer, Robert Heath - Producer, Bob Heath - Producer, Terry Minsky - Screenwriter
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Wikipedia: Less than Perfect
Top
Less than Perfect

Original cast
Format Sitcom
Created by Terri Minsky
Starring Sara Rue
Andy Dick
Sherri Shepherd
Andrea Parker
Zachary Levi
Eric Roberts (2002-2005)
Will Sasso (2003-2006)
Patrick Warburton (2003-2006)
Country of origin USA
No. of seasons 4
No. of episodes 81 (8 unaired)
Production
Running time 30 mins.
Broadcast
Original channel ABC
Original run October 1, 2002 – June 6, 2006

Less than Perfect is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from October 1, 2002 to June 6, 2006. The show was about a young female office employee (played by Sara Rue) and her co-workers. The show was directed by Skip Collector and Ted Wass, among others.

Contents

Overview and premise

The show, created by Terri Minsky, centered around Claude (Sara Rue), who worked at a television network and was the assistant for anchor Will Butler (Eric Roberts). Comedians Andy Dick, Will Sasso, and Sherri Shepherd played her co-workers and friends, while Zachary Levi and Andrea Parker played her enemies at work.

Much was made at the time of the show's premiere about the central character of the show being a "full figured" woman, and that the title correlated to Claude being "Less than Perfect." At the time of the show's premiere, Rue was a size 10 to 12, which is a norm or national average in the US, but is rarely depicted on television.[1] Over the course of the series, Rue lost 30 pounds (14 kg; 2.1 st).[2]

History

Less than Perfect debuted in a Tuesday evening timeslot and received steady ratings for its first two seasons. When the series was moved in its third season to a Friday-night timeslot, ratings began to fall sharply, and the show was considered to be in danger of cancellation.

TVGuide.com featured the show on a list of "Endangered Series." Ratings in the coveted 18-49 demographic were high enough, and the show was near the threshold for number of episodes needed for syndication, so a limited fourth season of 13 episodes was ordered.

After a long hiatus from ABC's schedule, the show returned as a late-season replacement for ABC with its fourth season premiere on Tuesday, April 18, 2006 at 9:30 p.m.[3]

Despite the pickup, the future of the series was not assured. Cast member Zachary Levi stated many cast members were ready to move on,[4] and series lead Sara Rue had filmed a pilot for CBS starring as a woman who runs a toy company with her brother in the comedy Play Nice.

ABC confirmed on May 17, 2006 that the fourth season would be its last.[5] ABC showed only part of the fourth season as scheduled. After five of the 13 episodes aired, ABC ceased broadcasting of the show, with the last episode broadcast on June 6, 2006. However, these episodes which were not broadcast in the US have been shown in other countries.

The show joined Lifetime Television on June 1, 2009 in syndication and airs all 81 episodes including the eight episodes previously not broadcast in the US.

Characters

Main Characters

  • Sara Rue - Claude Casey (2002-2006) (Seasons 1-4, 81 episodes)
  • Sherri Shepherd - Ramona Platt (2002-2006) (Seasons 1-4, 81 episodes)
  • Andy Dick - Owen Kronsky (2002-2006) (Season 1-4, 81 episodes)
  • Andrea Parker - Lydia Weston (2002-2006) (Seasons 1-4, 81 episodes)
  • Zachary Levi - Kipp Steadman (2002-2006) (Seasons 1-4, 81 episodes)
  • Eric Roberts - Will Butler (2002-2005) (Seasons 1-3, 57 episodes)
  • Will Sasso - Carl Monari (2003-2006) (Seasons 2-4, (guest starring in season 1) 40 episodes)
  • Patrick Warburton - Jeb Denton (2003-2006) (Seasons 2-4, 38 episodes)

Recurring Characters

  • Josh Braaten - Charlie, Claude's boyfriend from the travel department. (2002-2003 & 2005, Seasons 1 & 3, 8 episodes)
  • William Ragsdale - Mitch Calgrove, a producer at GNB who Claude dates (2004, Season 2, 4 episodes)
  • John Eric Bentley - An assistant director who becomes a director (2002 & 2006, Seasons 1 & 4, 3 episodes)
  • George Wyner - Alan Turnbach, head of GNB news (2003 & 2006, Seasons 1 & 4, 3 episodes)
  • French Stewart - Gene Schmidtline, an employee at GNB (2003-2005, Seasons 2-3, 3 episodes)
  • Jenny McCarthy - Dani, Will's on-and-off girlfriend (2003, Season 2, 3 episodes)
  • Diana-Maria Riva - Vivian, Carl's ex-girlfriend (2004-2005, Seasons 2-3, 3 episodes)
  • Joanna Tamases - Irene, a co-worker at GNB who offers Claude a job (2006, Season 4, 3 episodes)
  • Valerie Harper - Judith, Owen's mom (2003-2004, Seasons 2-3, 2 episodes)
  • Joanna Kerns - Judy, Owen's other mom (2003-2004, Seasons 2-3, 2 episodes)
  • Michael Boatman - Ted Elliot, a director who employs Claude (2003, Seasons 1-2, 2 episodes)
  • Michael Angarano - George Denton, Jeb's son (2004, Seasons 2-3, 2 episodes)
  • Nicole Sullivan - Deirdre Bishop, Owen's love interest (2003, Season 1, 2 episodes)

One-off guest stars

Episodes

See List of Less Than Perfect episodes

International broadcasting of show

Less than Perfect is currently showing on Paramount Comedy 1 in the United Kingdom, on ATV in Austria, on Nelonen in Finland, on FOX8 (pay tv) and the Seven Network (free to air) in Australia, on MTV Russia in Russia, on Star World for the rest of Asia, on yesSTARS in Israel, on Cuatro in Spain, on Sky Italia's Fox and MTV Italia in Italy, on Kanal 5 in Denmark, on HRT and Fox Life in Croatia and Serbia, on TV-First in Belarus. The first seven episodes and episode nine of the final season of Less than Perfect aired on TV2 in New Zealand, with the remaining episodes (eight and 10 through 13) yet to be scheduled, and in the UK a new season is to be aired. The show also aired on MBC 4 to Arabic speaking viewers. In Turkey, TNT Turkey airs. And ComedyMax currently airs the show for Digiturk subscribers and Comedy Smart airs for D-Smart subscribers.

Reception

Critical

Early reviews for the show found the characterization generally stereotypical, but critics often praised the performance of Sara Rue. USA asserted that "in just two episodes, the good guys/bad guys structure and the exaggerated characterizations already are showing signs of wear," although it called Rue a "welcome addition" to TV sitcoms.[6] People magazine likewise criticized the stereotypical characters, but summarized the show as "Hardly perfect but happily Rueful."[7] However, by Season 3, USA Today said the show had "hit its stride."[8]

U.S. ratings

Season Episodes Premiere Season finale U.S. ratings
1 2002-2003 22 October 1, 2002 May 20, 2003 8.1 million (85th place)[9]
2 2003-2004 24 September 23, 2003 May 18, 2004 8.8 million (66th place)[10]
3 2004-2005 22 September 24, 2004 April 15, 2005 6.2 million (94th place)[11]
4 2006 13 (8 unaired) April 18, 2006 June 6, 2006 4.9 million (115th place)[12]

References

  1. ^ MSNBC.com
  2. ^ Extra.tv
  3. ^ Zap2It
  4. ^ http://channels.isp.netscape.com/celebrity/hollywoodexclusive.jsp?feature=ce_hol_01122006
  5. ^ Digital Spy
  6. ^ Bianco, Robert (October 1, 2002), "'Less Than Perfect' aptly named, but Rue is nearly flawless". USA Today.
  7. ^ Kelleher, Terry (October 28, 2002), "Less Than Perfect (TV program)". People. 58 (18):30
  8. ^ Robert Bianco (November 26, 2004), "Unwind, rewind, watch these shows". USA Today.
  9. ^ "Nielsen's TOP 156 Shows for 2002-03 Retrieved July 29, 2008.
  10. ^ "2003-2004 TV Ratings Retrieved July 29, 2008.
  11. ^ "2004-2005 TV Ratings Retrieved July 29, 2008.
  12. ^ "2005-2006 TV Ratings Retrieved July 29, 2008.

External links


 
 

 

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