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When
Just Shoot Me debuted on NBC on a Tuesday night (following
Frasier) in 1997, the spirited sitcom had the feel of an instant winner. The casting alone was an inspired blend of talent from uniquely interesting sources: George Segal, the veteran actor best known for comic performances in such 1970s film classics as
Blume in Love and
California Split, was certainly overdue for a hit. Laura San Giacomo, a strong and intriguing presence for a decade in a number of key movies (
sex, lies, and videotape,
Pretty Woman) promised good things as the series' lead player. Wendie Malick, the former model turned ubiquitous supporting player on the likes of
NYPD Blue and
Seinfeld, had left an especially indelible impression on HBO's long-running comedy series
Dream On. Finally, David Spade, fresh from his great ride as a
Saturday Night Live cast member, brought a version of a popular
SNL character (Dick Clark's supercilious receptionist) to
Just Shoot Me, playing the haughty assistant of Segal's magazine publisher.
The show's premise was fresh, too, and the nice thing about revisiting JSM's first two seasons is realizing how well the whole enterprise holds up. Giacomo stars as serious-minded journalist Maya Gallo, fired from her job as a television newswriter after sabotaging a clueless, on-air anchor. Desperate for work, Maya turns up at the offices of Blush, a women's fashion monthly published by her estranged father, Jack (Segal). Maya reluctantly takes a job writing sex quizzes and similar dreck for Blush, but it's the snippy and vainglorious crossfire between the magazine's staffers, and between Maya and Jack, that makes JSM so much fun. Malick's aging diva, Nina Van Horn, alternately lashes out and unburdens her soul in a failing bid to remain vital in a youth-obsessed culture. Self-centered Jack offers Maya a father's long-delayed love--albeit on his terms. Spade's Dennis Finch chases leggy supermodels around the office like a pathetic loser in junior high. Another cast member, Enrico Colantoni, is very good as the likable but impulsive, womanizing photographer Elliot DiMauro, who becomes an increasingly important player as he and Maya develop feelings for one another in season two. Somehow Just Shoot Me never quite lit up NBC's primetime stable of hit sitcoms, but it did respectably well and now looks even better divorced from its television competition. --Tom Keogh
On the DVD
ccCommentary with the creator and writing producers
"Always in Fashion" featurette
The Blush covers photo gallery
Previews
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