The New Adventures of Old Christine - The Complete First Season

This is what should be standard TV. Some of its jokes are funny, and some are tired. And a few ones are truly inspired (restaurant set, an immigration lawyer working for poor people looking for their American Dream, you need to see it to understand how great a moment that is). But that's it by now. I watched half of this first season' episodes and "How I Met Your Mother" is not. However, the relationship between the characters seem (for once) adult-like, and for those people in their forties the subject matter of the series is going to be pretty relevant (hey, 3 stars is good!).

It pays to watch your first installment of "The New Adventures of Old Christine" with near-zero expectations. I have never been a major fan of Julia Louis Dreyfus, but that's only because I have never considered her a comic genius on the scale of say, Bea Arthur or Betty White. She was great on "Seinfeld", which of course is an icon of a show, but she has finally won my respect and adoration with "Old Christine", a show that could have sunk, but didn't.

Credit the writers for the shows' success. For all Dreyfus' comic timing and slapstick tendencies, she is often overlooked as a great deliverer of dialog, and this first season has a wondrous combination of one-liners as well as your typical American sitcom storylines. They don't always work, and mostly are either over-the-top or gleefully ludicrous, but they are always watchable. Some of the storylines did seem contrived, and you often have to admit that nothing like this could ever happen in real life (some of the situational comedy here is even more unbelievable than the most fantastical segments on "Seinfeld"), but its all very, very riveting.

"Old Christine", as you know by now, follows, Christine Campbell as a divorced mom who lives with her son and no-good brother. She is great friends with her ex-husband, and over the course of the first season we are introduced to "New Christine", who is her ex-husbands' sweet new girlfriend. The casting here is pitch perfect. The show pretty much follows this middle-class mom as she juggles work and family life, but its the huge supporting cast that make this successful - really, this show deserves some sort of ensemble cast award, because never since "The Cosby Show" have I seen a sitcom where every side-character actually adds value to the entire brand.

The best thing about this show is actually its' best actor : Hamish Linklater. I have been a huge underground fan of this mans' work for almost eight years now, and it was "Christine" that finally brought him into the spotlight. I must say that in the scenes with Julia Louis Dreyfus, its always Linklater that walks away with the best lines and indeed the loving attention of the camera - this man is just luminous on screen, and his rendition of the gangly younger brother with an eye for the ladies is quite something. He isn't yet my most favorite actor of all time (I'd have to see him in more stuff to judge his versatility for myself), but he's pretty much at the top. If you are at all interested in discovering a fresh new talent, then Hamish Linklater should do the trick for you.

Despite its' great knack for one-liners and the 'new story each week' syndrome, "Old Christine" manages to succeed by throwing some real surprises our way. The 'Meanie Moms' who were initially my favorite thing about the show, quickly became my second-favorite thing once Hamish Linklater got into the skin of his character, but they storylines with Julia became more and more far-fetched each week. One character who seemed sort of out of place was Wanda Sykes, as Julia's best friend Barb - you will have to watch Season Two to truly appreciate her characters' relevance in the show, but in the first season she's more of a 'guest star' than anything else.

Finally, while "Old Christine" will need at least another three or four solid seasons to prove its' status as "Classic Television", its already a staple for me. The success of a show, to me, is in its' ability to hold up to repeat viewing. The ONLY show that has done that for me so far, is "The Golden Girls", and to some extent, "Mama's Family". This show somewhat succeeds in that department - but there are clearly some episodes in this first season that I would never want to watch again - some of them aren't exactly memorable. But then again, there are some episodes (especially the Pilot, Episodes 6, 8, 11 and the Season Finale) which are definitely essential viewing.

Be aware that this first season only contains 13 episodes. This actually WAS the first season, and the number of episodes nearly doubled for the Second Season. Each episode runs between 21-25 minutes.

Obviously, since I'm a huge supporter of this show and the career of its star Hamish Linklater, I'm a little biased. Still, since I'm one of the few people drawn to "Old Christine" NOT due to the presence of Julia Louis Dreyfus, I believe its quite a recommendation that I've fallen for it so hard. This is indeed the way a sitcom should look like, in this day and age, and it has its solid share of dark humor, 'inappropriate' jokes, slapstick comedy, practical jokes, and hilarious storylines. I can't think of a better comedy on television in the last few years, so I recommend that you buy this gem and discover a sparkling new treasure.

Four and a Half Stars.

Highly recommend. I can't remember the last show that made me laugh out loud like this one does. I hope there is more seasons to come.

My love for the comedic, clumsy Christine Campbell has overcome my love for the sarcastic Elaine Benes. Julia Louis-Dreyfus portrays Christine Campbell to a T, making me forget all about Elaine's witticisms. For every rung on the ladder Christine climbs, she falls down two more. Christine isn't the "straight" character with a lot of goofy sidekicks. SHE is the main attraction herself and is not to be missed. Her friends and family merely augment her wackiness. The addition of Wanda Sykes only makes Christine's antics more hilarious, and when they're together, they become modern day Lucy and Ethel.

On the rare occasions that CBS actually puts new episodes of "Christine" on the air (hello, full season, anyone?), I am there. And I will continue to buy her DVDs for as long as they make them (which, sadly, I doubt will be for long with greedy, CSI-loving, reality show-doting CBS execs in charge).

In the meantime, please purchase a copy of "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and show your support! You won't regret it! It won't hurt your wallet -- only your sides from laughing too hard!

Hello,I really like Julia Dreyfus and was hoping that this would be her brake out from Seinfeld. Saddly the script is weak.The comedy is for women e.g. female hygiene puns. The cast are rookies and in the end I finaly just had enough. I hope that Mrs Dreyfus trys again. This time with a top notch cast and script. I can only hope.Keep in mind it WON an emmy