CBS ROLLS THE DICE WITH UNCONVENTIONAL COMEDY.Byline: David Kronke TV Critic PASADENA- `BRAM AND ALICE'' co-creator Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is a three-time Emmy Award-winning American character actor. asked the question on everyone's mind: ``After you've been to church and had a big Sunday pot roast, don't you want to watch a show in which a father hits on his daughter?'' That quip quip n. 1. A clever, witty remark often prompted by the occasion. 2. A clever, often sarcastic remark; a gibe. See Synonyms at joke. 3. A petty distinction or objection; a quibble. 4. sort of sums up the cheek - and the challenges - facing ``Bram and Alice,'' CBS's new sitcom from former ``Frasier'' executive producers Lloyd and Joe Keenan Joe Keenan is the name of:
v. woman·ized, woman·iz·ing, woman·iz·es v.intr. To pursue women lecherously. v.tr. To give female characteristics to; feminize. ; Traylor Howard Traylor Howard (born June 14, 1966, in Orlando, Florida, U.S.) is an American actress. Biography Early Life Traylor Elizabeth Howard was born and raised in Orlando, Florida. plays Alice O'Connor, his daughter from a long-forgotten tryst. Trouble is, when he meets her, he doesn't know who she is and begins putting the moves on her. In the first episode, Bram not only steals from a conquest and cozies up to his own flesh and blood, but also advises Alice to get an abortion when he foggily believes he has impregnated im·preg·nate tr.v. im·preg·nat·ed, im·preg·nat·ing, im·preg·nates 1. To make pregnant; inseminate. 2. To fertilize (an ovum, for example). 3. her and dupes her into paying his rent. Which brought the question from one of America's concerned TV critics during the program's press conference: Is this how the show's creative brain trust wants to introduce this character to audiences? Keenan - eyes wide and wild - Lloyd and Molina answered in unison: ``Yeah!'' Earlier, CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. Les Moonves proclaimed himself untroubled by the episode-long incest gag. He added, however, ``If he hits on her the next week, then you should be concerned.'' ``Bram and Alice'' represents a gamble of sorts by CBS: It's airing at 8 p.m. Sundays after ``60 Minutes,'' which draws an audience that could easily be put off by Bram's shenanigans shenanigans Noun, pl Informal 1. mischief or nonsense 2. trickery or deception [origin unknown] . Traditionally a strong time slot Continuously repeating interval of time or a time period in which two devices are able to interconnect. for the network (this past season's ``Max Bickford'' notwithstanding), it makes sense to hand it over to folks with resumes as impressive as Lloyd and Keenan. On the other hand, most critics didn't seem terribly impressed with the pilot. One critic, in fact, sternly called Lloyd and Keenan to task for an apparently racist line in which a character describes her boyfriend as ``short and Japanese'' - ``What's funny about this?'' she demanded of the panel. There was a pause so pregnant it went into labor. Keenan then turned to his partner: ``Chris?'' Lloyd did a lot of explaining, but not really in answer to her question. Another measure of the assembled journalists' indifference to the project was the preponderance of questions about everything but the show itself. It's an old reporter's trick: Pad an uninteresting interview with generic questions. Hence, the panel fielded rote queries about the show's logo, gay characters, Latino characters, cultural differences between England (Molina's birthplace) and America, the state of TV comedy (Keenan: ``It needs us''), other projects and Howard's guest shot on ``The West Wing'' (she wanted to see what it was like to act on an hourlong show, she explained). Molina, who had previously starred on the short-lived CBS sitcom ``Ladies Man,'' joked that in order to get rehired by the network, ``I had to sleep with the same people all over again!'' A third round of trysts may be around the corner. BRAM AND ALICE PRESS CONFERENCE What: Event introducing CBS's new father-daughter odd-couple comedy. Who: Alfred Molina, Traylor Howard, Joe Keenan, Christopher Lloyd. Entertainment value: Two and one half stars. Informational value: Two and one half stars. Prospects for survival: Two and one half stars. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Alfred Molina and Traylor Howard star in CBS' fall sitcom ``Bram and Alice,'' which takes mistaken identity to new extremes in its first episode. |
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