December 10, 2007
Amnesia is one of the most overused plot devices in television, but actress Christina Applegate saw no problem with it when she signed up for Samantha Who?, a new comedy series about an amnesiac woman who is trying her best to make up for her past wrongdoings.
“I wasn't afraid of it,” Applegate told Contra Costa Times, after explaining that at the time they were preparing to film the pilot, ABC's Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives were also dabbling with storylines that featured amnesia. “The way we've approached it is with sensitivity to the condition itself, while acknowledging that there is a slew of funny and interesting things you can pull out of it.”
December 4, 2007
Spending seven years on the highly-successful Gilmore Girls didn't exactly make Melissa McCarthy feel all that confident about her television career, and when she landed a starring role in the new ABC comedy series, Samantha Who?, it seems not a lot of people were sure she would succeed either.
“Everyone was saying, ‘Well, you'll never have [Gilmore Girls] again, you'll be lucky if [Samantha Who??]gets picked up,” McCarthy told TV Guide.
November 5, 2007
Despite its share of detractors and non-believers, Christina Applegate's return vehicle to regular television, Samantha Who?, has become one of the fall season's surprise hits. Enough so, that its carrier network, ABC, has picked it up for an entire maiden season.
Samantha Who? received the order for additional installments last week, after the show registered a third week of strong, solid ratings.
October 26, 2007
It's time for BuddyTV to face the music: did our picks for the new seasons hits and misses display an uncanny prescience, or should we try tea leaves and Oujia boards next time? Let's tick through the shows that we picked as hits and misses and see how close, or far, away we were.
October 23, 2007
All this week, now one month into the Fall TV season, BuddyTV takes a hard look at the new shows to determine which ones we were right about, and which ones have surprised us the most, both positively and negatively.
The minute I heard about ABC's new comedy Samantha Who?, I was intrigued. I became a fan of Christine Applegate post-Married With Children. I may be one of the few who remember her late 90s sitcom, Jesse, but I loved it. She impressed in recent years holding her own opposite Will Ferrell in Anchorman and even braving Broadway in a revival of Sweet Charity. I didn't need to know much more than she was the star of a new sitcom to get me on board. After two episodes, has the show lived up to my expectations? Let's explore.
October 23, 2007
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After his exposure on HBO's Deadwood, Timothy Olyphant will be returning to the small screen with an acting gig on one of ABC's newest sitcoms. According to TV Guide, the 39-year-old actor has just landed a recurring role on Samantha Who?
Created by Cecelia Ahern and Don Todd, Samantha Who?? follows Christina Applegate as Samantha "Sam" Newly, a 30-year-old who has to rediscover her life, her relationships and herself after developing amnesia from a hit-and-run accident. The comedy includes her boyfriend Todd (Barry Watson), her father Howard (Kevin Dunn), her mother Regina (Jean Smart), and her best friend Andrea (Jennifer Esposito). Also featured on the show are Tim Russ as Frank and Melissa McCarthy as Dena.
October 16, 2007
Samantha Who? Wow, so that worked out well. I suppose when you market the hell out of a show with an attractive, well-liked star (Christina Applegate) and premiere it after one of the biggest shows on TV (Dancing with the Stars), high ratings should be expected. But, I'm not sure if anyone expected Samantha Who? to perform this well. The show pulled in over 14 million viewers and held on to a larger post-Dancing with the Stars audience than The Bachelor had been receiving. Of course, the big test comes next week, when audiences will decide if the first Samantha Who? episode was enough for them to tune back in for a second week. My guess is that the ratings won't be as high, but will remain solid, giving ABC another minor hit.