I remember Kirstie Alley as Ted Danson's whiny sparring partner on "Cheers." I
| REVIEW | |
|---|---|
 |
Veronica's Closet
NBC |
Apparently, the powers-that-be are really laughing it up about this one, because we get to put up with Alley as yet another whiny character in her new sitcom, "Veronica's Closet."
Alley plays Veronica "Ronnie" Chase, the owner of an upscale lingerie company and author of self-help romance books. Having just broken up with her philandering husband, Alley gets not only the spotlight, but also free-reign to whine until the cows
 |
| Kirstie Alley whines about everything from husbands to underwear in "Closet." |
She whines about everything including relationships, her now estranged husband, the antics in the workplace and her underwear riding up her crack. Her acting range, as exhibited on this show, consists of her going from whining and complaining to occasionally breaking out into manic tears.
Fortunately, Alley's whining detracts attention from the fact that the show has nothing with which to back her up. Like meeting a $10 hooker wearing hundreds of dollars worth of Victoria's Secret lingerie, we still know trash when we see it. Produced by the same people who brought you "Friends" and "Dream On," "Veronica's Closet" is not something that Bright, Kauffman and Crane are going to want to put on their future resumés.
Much of the problem has to do with the fact that everything about the show tries to succeed but falls limp. Particularly, the writing is so horrific and banal that people can't help but expect someone to come in and deliver the disgustingly corny, yet popular, sitcom line, "What's the number for 911."
The other employees at the lingerie company include Chase's sympathetic top executive, Olive (Kathy Najimy); her uptight assistant Josh (Wallace Langham); the company's publicist, Perry (Dan Cortese); and the marketing manager Leo (Daryl "Chill" Mitchell). This group of talented and not-so-talented actors are a combination that have the potential to make the show semi-worthwhile, but don't even bother trying.
Dan Cortese is the show's designated heartthrob whose character prances around flaunting the fact that he used to be an underwear model. The former pretty-boy of "MTV Sports," Cortese proves that his skills don't go much farther than smiling for the camera. In one marking exchange between his character, Perry and Josh, Josh asks, "Isn't it enough that you're pretty?" Cortese answers, "Evidently not."
On the flipside, Wallace Langham is quite amusing as Josh. Extremely anal-retentive and experiencing a sexual-identity crisis, the comedy's straight man becomes its funniest component.
The show's only ace is the fact that it is stuck between NBC's hits, "Seinfeld" and "ER."
But like the other lackluster shows that have been jinxed with being scheduled between the network's Thursday night giants (whatever happened to "The Single Guy?"), Kirstie Alley's stupid little sitcom will most likely be doomed to a mid-season cancellation.
 |
| The skeletons in "Veronica's Closet." |
11-05-97
| Previous Article | Next Article |
should be sent to: daily.letters@umich.edu | should be sent to: online.daily@umich.edu |