Help Me Help You (The Show)

[nyllover]

This review looks like one of those where "Playing footsie" is used in a general way, but anyway i'll post it here:

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Ted Danson never has to worry about filing for unemployment.

That's because the seasoned actor seems to be starring in a new sitcom every few years. A veteran of such comedies as Cheers, Ink (do you even remember that one?) and Becker, Danson will probably have to die first before no one will hire him.
His new star vehicle is Help Me Help You in which Danson plays Dr. Bill Hoffman, a brilliant shrink who runs a group therapy session for a bunch of patients who have more issues than teeth. But the catch is — and it's pretty easy to guess — Bill is just as screwed up.

Like how screwed up?

Well, let's just say Bill's going through a serious midlife crisis. He bought a $80,000 Porsche. His 25-year marriage is ending and he's not too happy about his soon-to-be ex-wife (Malcolm in the Middle's Jane Kaczmarek) playing footsie with the guy who sold him his car.

And that unhappiness manifests itself in Bill going crazy with a golf club on the poor man's "clown car."

When Bill isn't taking his frustration out on motor vehicles, he's in session with the likes of a suicidal office worker (Charlie Finn); a man (Jim Rash) in serious denial about his homosexuality; a 25-year-old, self-made millionaire (Suzy Nakamura) with no social skills; a woman (Darlene Hunt) with too many psychological issues to list here; and a man (Jere Burns) with a severe temper problem.

As expected, old pro Danson hasn't lost any of his comedic timing and wit. And he has some nice chemistry with Kaczmarek, who, at the moment, is only signed on as a guest-star.

While Danson is at the center of Help Me, one of the season's brightest new comedies, he's also surrounded by a first-rate team of supporting players.

Nakamura (Dodgeball) is a scene-stealing standout as Inger, a woman who goes on J-Date, an online dating service for Jewish singles, because "I find Jewish guys to be a lot less threatening (since) I'm not attracted to them."

And Rash (Sky High) is equally funny as Jonathan, a self-described metrosexual who's clearly gay, but won't acknowledge it. Instead, Jonathan puts more bass in his voice and spits macho-man lines like, "My boys" while trying to get excited about buying tickets to see the New York Knicks.

Although Help Me tackles such serious issues as suicide and addiction, it does so without trivializing those issues. You laugh with the characters, not at them.

Another plus: There's no grating laugh track.

Like The Class, CBS' promising new comedy that debuted last week, the writers on Help Me appear as if they want to develop three-dimensional characters, not typical cardboard cutouts who are about as deep as a kiddie pool.

Article taken from PalmBeachPost.com

[Babylove]

Hit or miss, we gotta keep an eye out for that one.

[Footsiefreak]

Its probably" playing footsie" meaning messing around.