NOTHING COMATOSE ABOUT ABC'S FUNNY NEW SITCOM.Byline: DAVID David, in the Bible David, d. c.970 B.C., king of ancient Israel (c.1010–970 B.C.), successor of Saul. The Book of First Samuel introduces him as the youngest of eight sons who is anointed king by Samuel to replace Saul, who had been deemed a failure. KRONKE >TV CRITIC "Samantha Who?" is an inspired oxymoron: It's a cynical comedy about hope. The cynicism drives the comedy. The hope drives the show. Which would seem to make it an iffy fit for something that follows "Dancing With the Stars Dancing with the Stars is the name for a number of international television series based on the format of the British series Strictly Come Dancing. Nevertheless, not all the international versions share this title. ," whose fans likely don't subscribe to this show's snarky snark·y adj. snark·i·er, snark·i·est Slang Irritable or short-tempered; irascible. [From dialectal snark, to nag, from snark, snork, to snore, snort attitude. Christina Applegate stars as Samantha, whose eight days in a coma after a hit-and-run accident gives her retrograde amnesia: She remembers nothing of her past life. And the first two episodes, written by series co- creator Donald Todd, hilariously chart her aghast response to the disquieting discovery that who she was before her accident was not a particularly nice person. She was an alcoholic slut -- she casually cheated on her boyfriend, Todd (Barry Watson), with a married man -- and a spendthrift One who spends money profusely and improvidently, thereby wasting his or her estate. Under various statutes, a spendthrift is a person who wastes or reduces her estate through excessive drinking, gambling, idleness, or debauchery in a manner that exposes that individual or , she worked for a disreputable company and, worse, she was good at her job. Moreover, she was estranged es·trange tr.v. es·tranged, es·trang·ing, es·trang·es 1. To make hostile, unsympathetic, or indifferent; alienate. 2. To remove from an accustomed place or set of associations. from her opportunistic mother, Regina (Jean Smart), and genially clueless father, Howard (Kevin Dunn) -- when she tells her mom, "You made me who I am," Regina replies, agonized ag·o·nize v. ag·o·nized, ag·o·niz·ing, ag·o·niz·es v.intr. 1. To suffer extreme pain or great anguish. 2. To make a great effort; struggle. v.tr. , "That is a terrible thing to say." Her best friend, Andrea (Jennifer Esposito), is cut from Sam's cloth: When Sam describes the symptoms of her amnesia, Andrea chugs a flute of champagne and shrugs, "I have that every morning." So, even though those around her have given up hope, for her or their own lives, Samantha persists in trying to fix her own from the tattered remains of her past. Her mother tried to exploit Sam's coma to earn her home a televised extreme makeover; Sam now yearns to perform an extreme makeover on her life. Todd's dialogue can be witheringly funny, and the cast attacks the material with aplomb, particularly Applegate. She neatly knits together all of Sam's disparate panicked confusion and innate bitchiness at this bewildering be·wil·der tr.v. be·wil·dered, be·wil·der·ing, be·wil·ders 1. To confuse or befuddle, especially with numerous conflicting situations, objects, or statements. See Synonyms at puzzle. 2. time in her life. Smart sitcoms on broadcast networks are nearly comatose these days, as viewers have nearly forgotten the pleasures of snappy dialogue in service to a clever premise. How "Samantha Who?" fares could point to whether the genre has a future or if it, like Samantha, is consigned to a past fuzzily remembered. David Kronke, (818) 713-3638 david.kronke@dailynews.com www.insidesocal.com/tv/ SAMANTHA WHO? - Three stars >What: Christina Applegate stars as a young woman with amnesia who tries to piece together - and improve - her miserable life. >Where: ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. (Channel 7). >When: 9:30 tonight. >In a nutshell: A cynical comedy about hope. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Christina Applegate tries to reconstruct -- and upgrade -- her life in "Samantha Who?" |
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