The fourth season of The New Adventures of Old Christine premieres on its new night and time next Wednesday (September 24, CBS 8:00 PM EST). Previously part of the well-branded CBS Monday night comedy block (a nicely established piece of television real estate that features the inexplicable ratings machine Two and a Half Men), this schedule change makes the Julia Louis-Dreyfus sitcom one half of a new, hour long comedy night on the network. The show will share the night with a beefy Jay Mohr in the thinly premised Gary Unmarried.
The move is either a sign of strong network confidence that the show can anchor a new night of comedy or a sign of no confidence and the last stop before cancellation. The ratings for Old Christine haven’t grown in the last two seasons, the third season was only picked up as a mid-season replacement and then that half season was cut even shorter due to the WGA strike. Now it’s moving to an untested program block and being pitted against Bones (FOX), Knight Rider (NBC), Americas Next Top Model (CW), Dancing with the Stars Results Show (ABC) and, later in the season, critical darling Pushing Daisies (ABC). The show can’t seem to get a break. And I think it deserves one.
I’m only slightly biased because I’m in the middle of writing a spec script for the show. But I chose it for a reason. In the process of deciding what show to spec and how best to write it, I’ve actively studied the previous three seasons and think the show is genuinely strong, generally well-written and, well, funny. I can’t think of another multi-camera sitcom on television that I like better than Old Christine (I know, I know, there aren’t that many to choose from anymore). Old Christine combines interesting and original story lines about an independent, albeit deeply flawed, single woman with a consistent ensemble cast with great chemistry. It’s like Friends meets 30 Rock meets Elaine from Seinfeld meets Wanda Sykes! And while Christine seems to have found its relatively small, but loyal, audience, it remains to be seen if that audience will find Christine on Wednesdays.
Here’s hoping Christine manages to survive having her adventures rescheduled!
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