September 12, 2007
Frasier star Kelsey Grammer and Everybody Loves Raymond’s Patricia Heaton are back at what they do best – entertaining viewers on weekly comedy television. The two sitcom heavyweights with seven Emmy awards between them star as former co-anchors who must once again share the spotlight at a Pittsburgh news desk.
Grammer, who earned a pair of Golden Globes and five Emmy awards for his portrayal of the snobbishly intelligent Dr. Frasier Crane on Frasier, now essays the role of the less than stellar yet egotistical Chuck Darling on Back to You. The upcoming FOX series marks a reunion of sorts for Grammer and fellow Frasier alums, Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd. Lloyd and Levitan both served as writers and executive producers on Frasier and are now co-creators of Back to You. The three Frasier stalwarts recently spoke about making the transition from their old series to their new one.
September 10, 2007
In BuddyTV's 2007 Fall TV Guide, we analyzed which great stars are working on shows that aren't worthy of their skill levels. The three to earn that distinction in 2007 are Fred Willard in Back to You, Jerry O'Connell in Carpoolers, and Joshua Malina in Big Shots.
Fred Willard is a comedic semi-genius. Ten, 20 years ago I might have given him full-fledged genius, but the man is 67-years-old (though he doesn't look it) and slowing down just a tad. In recent years, Willard has given scene-stealing performances in the Christopher Guest films Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, and A Mighty Wind, and more mainstream fare like Anchorman. Ironically, he'll be gracing the small screen this Fall in a sitcom likely inspired by Anchorman's success in the new FOX sitcom Back to You. Back to You stars sitcom legends Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton as adversarial anchor-people. Back to You has yet to be made available to anyone (bad sign) and the promos have been, for lack of a better word, cringe-worthy. Despite the star power involved, Back to You looks like your typical unfunny sitcom, which leads me to this question: Why, Fred Willard? Why?
September 10, 2007
In BuddyTV’s 2007 Fall TV Guide, we stared at countless photographs of the new show casts to determine which were most pleasing to the eye (the “Beauties”) and which weren’t so pleasant (the “Beasts”). In the end, we settle on Private Practice, Cane and Gossip Girl as having the hottest casts, while Cavemen, Dirty Sexy Money and Back to You all came up short in the looks department.
I always thought people on the local news were supposed to be chosen based on looks. FOX's failed reality series Anchorwoman tried to throw a model and WWE Diva into the role, and perhaps it's failure proved my hypothesis wrong. Also proving my hypothesis wrong: the new sitcom Back to You.
September 10, 2007
Premiere Date and Time: Wednesday, September 19, 8pm
Network: FOX
Time Slot Competition: Pushing Daisies, Deal or No Deal, Kid Nation, America's Next Top Model
Cast: Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Heaton, Fred Willard, Josh Gad, Ty Burrell, Laura Marano
June 27, 2007
Back to You is an upcoming sitcom on the Fox Network. It is created, written and executive-produced by Steven Levitan, the man behind such comedy series as Just Shoot Me! and Wings . Emmy-award winning screenwriter Christopher Lloyd is also credited as an executive producer.
The series revolves around the story of a fallen Pittsburgh news team, Chuck and Kelly. The duo dominated television news back in the 1990’s, but when Chuck came upon a bigger career opportunity, Kelly did not stand in his way, especially since the camaraderie they shared on-screen did not translate to real life. However, after a humiliating on-air argument wound up on the internet, Chuck’s trip to stardom took a turn for the worse. So, when he was invited back to Pittsburgh to reunite with now single mom Kelly, he immediately jumped at the chance, hoping to recapture their fame, as well as the station’s no.1 ranking.
Read on to know more about the cast of Back to You.