• The Return of Jezebel James, 8-8:30 Friday, WSVN-Fox 7
Yet another of life's little mysteries: the title of Fox's new sitcom, The Return of Jezebel James. Why not just call it what it is, The Return of The Odd Couple Except with Lots of Estrogen and Many Fewer Laughs?
Really: Indy film queen Parker Posey plays a snobby, obsessive-compulsive clean freak who wants a baby but can't have one. Lauren Ambrose of Six Feet Under is her sister, a slobby slacker barely one step removed from living on the street -- but with a perfectly functioning uterus. Naturally they move in together so Ambrose can carry Posey's baby.
If that's not Felix and a knocked-up Oscar -- I know, I know, shoulda been the other way around -- then next you'll tell me that Lipstick Jungle and Cashmere Mafia aren't the same show.
As for the lack of laughs, you're just going to have to take my word for it, unless you want to risk serious brain damage. Jezebel James is written and produced by Amy Sherman-Palladino, the creator of Gilmore Girls, and her tendencies toward the fey and overmannered have truly run amok here.
Posey's brittle portrayal of the older sister only worsens matters. Her explanation of why she doesn't want to adopt a child unrelated to her -- ''Because what if it grows up and tries to kill me? I mean, I kind of asked for it, right?'' -- left me not chuckling but wondering what kind of prospective mother refers to her baby as ''it.'' The answer, I'm guessing, is a soon-to-be-canceled one.
