Watching Ellie: Cast Photo - Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries

Watching Ellie aired from February 2002 until May 2003 on NBC.

Seinfeld alumna Julia Louise -Dreyfus starred as Ellie Riggs, a jazz nightclub singer in this quirky comedy , which in some ways resembled her earlier show. The setting was Los Angeles, but the tone was New York cosmopolitan and the stories day-in-the-life vignettes , just like Seinfeld. Inhabiting Ellie's single world were Ben ( Darren Boyd), her married British boyfriend and the guitarist in her band; obnoxious former boyfriend Edgar ( Steve Carell), who chased her relentlessly; Susan ( Lauren Bowles) her much-too-pretty married younger sister; Ingvar ( Peter Stormare) , the oddball neighbor who was infatuated with her ; and Dr. Zimmerman ( Don Lake), a nutty, balding middle-age veterinarian who also lived nearby. There were a lot of jazzy music and a certain amount of playful sexuality, as well as physical comedy. A gimmick in early episodes was a clock in the lower left-hand corner of the screen, starting at 22 minutes and counting down to the end of the story, which was told in real time. Sometimes it even cut off the last scene. When the series returned in the spring of 2003, it used a more traditional sitcom format ( not real time) and dispensed with the clock.

Watching Ellie was created by Julia Louise-Dreyfus' husband , actor Brad Hall, and co-starred her real-life sister, Lauren Bowles, as her sister Susan.

A Review from The New York Times

TELEVISION REVIEW; There's a Lot Of Elaine In This Star's New Sitcom

By CARYN JAMES
Published: February 26, 2002

Ellie looks like Elaine, sounds like Elaine, and when she declares triumph over a tow-truck driver by yelling, ''So long, sucka!'' she might as well be Elaine. That twinlike resemblance between Julia Louis-Dreyfus's new character on ''Watching Ellie'' and her old Elaine on ''Seinfeld'' is exactly why her sitcom is funny and engaging. It comes as close to resurrecting the old show as you can without hauling Jerry Seinfeld himself back on television. While Michael Richards and Jason Alexander's disastrous series led to the specter of a ''Seinfeld curse'' on the show's co-stars, Ms. Louis-Dreyfus has figured out that the best way to beat the curse is not to fight it.

''Watching Ellie'' sounds more daring than it is. It's true that, unlike Elaine, Ellie is a struggling nightclub singer. She lives in Los Angeles, not New York. And the show's gimmick is that it takes place in real time, with a time code in the corner of the screen counting down 22 minutes each week. (It freezes during commercials.)

But that trick also shapes the current Kiefer Sutherland drama ''24,'' not to mention the famous ''Seinfeld'' episode in which the characters waited for a table in a Chinese restaurant.

And like Elaine, Ellie is a smart, single woman who bumbles her way into an endless string of small social mishaps. ''Watching Ellie'' borrows the sharply focused but reassuringly fluffy ''Seinfeld'' approach, in which double-dipping a chip at a party can become a major crisis.

In tonight's episode, Ellie is putting on makeup and getting dressed for a gig while talking to her sister on the phone (in split screen, a standby technique on ''24'') when the toilet overflows, gushing water as only sitcom toilets do. Frantic, she calls the first of the Seinfeldian characters who will surround her: Ingvar, her building's inept super. Played by the gangly Peter Stormare, Ingvar is the spacy Kramer character, except he has a mad crush on Ellie.

This leads to the unlikely line, ''Thank you for the book of Swedish sonnets,'' which Ms. Louis-Dreyfus delivers with the matter-of-factness she uses so expertly to make outsize characters believable.

Racing to the club, Ellie is stopped by an old boyfriend, Edgar, who runs out of a hair salon when he sees her pass by. Soon she's wondering out loud how she could have stayed with such a self-absorbed loser for six months. ''Well, it must have been something about me,'' Edgar says, which is quite a comment coming from a man standing on the sidewalk wearing a green robe and pieces of foil in his hair (just a few highlights, he explains). Edgar fills the annoying George slot.

And when Ellie arrives at the club we meet Ben, her current boyfriend, a guitarist in her backup group who seems too good to be true: charming, handsome, blond, English, married. (O.K., so there's always a flaw.)

Ellie, of course, is Jerry. And where the fictional Seinfeld was a stand-up comic whom we saw briefly onstage at the end of the early episodes, ''Watching Ellie'' ends with the star singing, at least in the first two episodes. That is not an inspired idea; it's too easy to see why she is a struggling singer, and her repertory includes an easy-listening version of ''Shoo Fly Pie.'' When she sings ''So Nice'' at the end of tonight's episode, the frame freezes and the last word is cut off because the clock has counted down to 0. That's way too cute, reminding us of the gimmick, which is usually, happily, easy to ignore.

''Watching Ellie'' was created by Brad Hall, Ms. Louis-Dreyfus's husband, whose role has generated low expectations not because of nepotism but because he is best known for having created the unwatchable series ''The Single Guy.''

Although this new series is much sharper, it needs to grow. In next week's episode, when Ellie sings at a friend's wedding and locks her music inside a car (that's where the tow-truck driver comes in), the frantic scrambling already seems a little repetitious.

But with comfort shows doing so well right now, this ''Seinfeld'' clone has a cozy, familiar appeal.

WATCHING ELLIE
NBC, tonight at 8:30

Brad Hall, executive producer and creator; Joe Furey, co-executive producer; Matt Nodella, producer; Ken Kwapis and Lorie Zerweck, co-producers.

WITH: Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Ellie Riggs), Darren Boyd (Ben Raffield), Peter Stormare (Ingvar), Steve Carell (Edgar), Lauren Bowles (Susan Riggs-Reyer) and Don Lake (Dr. Zimmerman).

A Review from Entertainment Weekly

TV Review
Watching Ellie

B+By Ken Tucker

Network sitcoms are going through a fallow period right now. Sure, ''Friends'' is having a fine, funny season, and ''The Bernie Mac Show'' is lively and fresh. But in general the format is flagging. ''Everybody Loves Raymond,'' which debuted in 1996, was the last conventional-format sitcom (family setting, taped in front of a studio audience) to elicit big laughs right from the start; ''Malcolm in the Middle,'' now in its third season, opened up new stylistic possibilities in the shot-on-film sitcom genre.

Let's see, what else? ''Undeclared,'' Judd Apatow's sharp college comedy, is searching for an audience; ''The Tick'' -- probably the best live-action superhero show ever, and no, I haven't forgotten ''Smallville'' -- is gone, canceled. As for the rest -- do you know anyone these days who makes a point of watching ''Just Shoot Me'' or ''The Drew Carey Show''? So give NBC credit for trying to do something different with Watching Ellie (debuting Feb. 26, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus playing a Los Angeles nightclub singer).

''Ellie'' is the latest show from a ''Seinfeld'' cast member, following the hollow ''Michael Richards Show'' and Jason Alexander's noisy ''Bob Patterson.'' Created by Louis-Dreyfus' writer-producer husband, Brad Hall, ''Ellie'' takes place in real time -- each week we watch about 22 minutes, give or take a commercial, of our leading lady's life. The result is smart and likable; it earns its gimmicky premise.

Louis-Dreyfus' Ellie is less ditsy, more focused than ''Seinfeld'''s Elaine, and not nearly as deluded: Ellie's heart may be in crooning standards, but she pays her L.A. rent by taking work where she can get it, such as singing in commercials. The opening episode allows Louis-Dreyfus to do some inspired slapstick shtick when her toilet overflows, and that emergency allows us to meet her neighbors, who include the building's lascivious super (Peter Stormare) and, down the hall, a veterinarian played by the invaluable Don Lake, a veteran of Bonnie Hunt's terrific short-lived sitcoms (''The Building'' and ''The Bonnie Hunt Show'') and a scene-stealer in the 2000 feature film ''Return to Me,'' which Hunt wrote and directed. In casting a comic actor as deadpan adroit as Lake, as well as Steve Carell (from Jon Stewart's ''The Daily Show'') as an obnoxious ex-boyfriend, Louis-Dreyfus and Hall prove that, unlike Richards and Alexander, they know the value of letting the star step back occasionally to permit someone else to get the laughs.

''Watching Ellie'' sets up some promising story lines, such as the emotionally fraught affair our gal is having with the guitarist in her band, and the premiere, directed by ''Malcolm'' and ''The Larry Sanders Show'' vet Ken Kwapis, has an attractively dark glow to its nighttime setting. ''Watching Ellie'' has an open, inviting atmosphere; it leaves you wanting more.

An Article from Entertainment Weekly
Published on December 9, 2002

On the Air
Clock Stopper
Julia Louis-Dreyfus's sitcom will return to NBC. After trying a real-time format last season, ''Watching Ellie'' turns to a more traditional set up

By Lynette Rice

So much for trying something different in a sitcom: The NBC comedy ''Watching Ellie'' starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus will abandon its real-time element (buh-bye, ticking clock!) and single-camera format and become a traditional four-camera show with a studio audience when it returns for a nine-episode run in March. Louis-Dreyfus says she's fine with changing ''Ellie'' -- the brainchild of her writer husband Brad Hall (''The Single Guy'') -- primarily because she missed the type of experience she had on ''Seinfeld.'' ''Getting a reaction from an audience, that's a hard thing to give up,'' she admits. ''As much fun as shooting a single-camera comedy was, you exist very much in a vacuum.'' Speaking of sucking, Ellie's life as a single L.A. lounge singer won't get much better next season (''there will be a lot of humiliation,'' she promises). Though more viewers watched ''Ellie'' last season (10 million) than the critically acclaimed ''Alias'' (9.7 million) and that other real-time series, ''24'' (8.6 million), there are no guarantees that the changes will ensure a pickup for fall 2003. Louis-Dreyfus isn't stressing. ''I feel much more relaxed,'' she says about the show's second outing. ''Our goal is to simply entertain.'' We'll hold her to that.

An Article from The Seattle Post

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

'Watching Ellie': Does NBC think we're all stupid?

By MELANIE McFARLAND
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER TELEVISION CRITIC

Talk about taxing.

NBC has the nerve to unleash Julia Louis-Dreyfus and her husband Brad Hall's time-sucking sitcom on us again -- except without the drama-style single camera or the ridiculous countdown clock in the corner.

As if omitting either is enough to actually help "Watching Ellie" evolve from 2002's midseason dreck into 2003's April comeback queen. Far from the case. Instead, what began as a demonstration of good actors adventurously struggling with a badly written script has been revamped into a demonstration of good actors desperately struggling with a badly written script, with a chortling studio audience thrown in for good measure.

In other words, when "Watching Ellie" returns at 9:30 p.m. this evening on KING/5, it will be just another 30 minutes of midseason stupidity that got a second chance either because of its star, or because NBC believes you and I are dumb enough to forget how bad it was last spring.

Benefiting from heavy promotion during NBC's broadcast of the Winter Olympics last year and a plum hammock slot between two episodes of "Frasier," "Watching Ellie" premiered in February 2002 to fantastic ratings. But once we saw what the hype was all about -- the clock! the stumbling! -- we left in droves. By the time NBC shelved "Ellie" that April, the show's audience had steadily declined from an initial 16.7 million viewers to just over nine million. Quite a dive, but apparently not enough to get the show banished altogether.

Given the fates of "Seinfeld" co-stars Jason Alexander and Michael Richards, you can't blame Louis-Dreyfus for beating back the version of "Seinfeld's" afterlife that must be beckoning. Both her fellow cast members failed in their shots at sitcoms, and look where they are now. On BBC America last night, "So Graham Norton" showered Richards in the love reserved for has-beens. It was the highest profile TV appearance he's enjoyed in a long time. Alexander, meanwhile, is in spokesperson Hades, scarfing down all the fried chicken he can stomach.

Hmm.

With them in mind, you might understand why Louis-Dreyfus plays L.A. nightclub singer Ellie Riggs with such over-the-top physical comedy. She's fighting to stay on your screens, although from the looks of things, the battle can't be won by "Watching Ellie."

Ellie navigates her a crazy life flapping her arms around like a stressed-out flightless bird. It's flap, flap, flap, wiggle, wiggle as she chastises lover Ben (Darren Boyd) for ogling the sex-crazed young Icelandic tennis player visiting the show's obligatory wacky neighbor (Fred Willard).

Or flap, flap, flap and screech when she hisses at a guy she perceives as able-bodied parking in a handicapped spot -- before finding out later he's sporting an assortment of prosthetics! Not to mention he's a nightclub promoter that Ben, also the guitarist in Ellie's band, is trying to persuade to hire them! Ha! Hoo!

Other than achieving these and other comedic lows -- I'd reference next week's episode, but that would encourage you to tune in when you shouldn't -- "Watching Ellie's" basic plot remains intact.

Besides Boyd, "The Daily Show's" Steve Carell, who deserves so much better than this, returns as Ellie's clueless slimeball of an ex-boyfriend Edgar to join Ben in torturing her. The actress also gets plenty of family support, both from Hall as the series' executive producer and Lauren Bowles, Louis-Dreyfus' sister in real life who plays Ellie's sister Susan on the show. At least she won't have to go far to find a shoulder to cry on if the show ends up being canceled.

The high number of viewers tuning in to last year's premiere out of curiosity inspired NBC to hopefully, and dishonestly, declare "Watching Ellie" to be the network's newest hit after but one airing. Folks, I urge you, don't give them the same ammunition this time. If you respect the memory of "Seinfeld's" Elaine, or even Louis-Dreyfus' cameos on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," do her and the rest of us a favor and watch something else.

HERE'S AN OPTION: The Mariners are playing the Oakland A's on KSTW/11.

Good news for those of us who want to soak up all the Sodo Mojo we can handle, but bad news for the thirsty "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" faithful, who won't see the first of the final five new episodes that night and, they fear, miss the return of Faith (Eliza Dushku).

Not to worry -- the episode isn't being yanked, just postponed. Seattle's UPN affiliate will air the episode, "Dirty Girls," Sunday at 8 p.m. Plan your Easter menus accordingly.

Anyone hooked on "Platinum" after last night's premiere won't have to wait as long. The second episode of the series airs tonight at 10:30. Both will return to their regular Tuesday timeslots next week, "Buffy" at 8 p.m. followed by "Platinum" at 9.

For more on Watching Ellie go to http://www.popmatters.com/tv/reviews/w/watching-ellie.shtml

For more on Watching Ellie go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watching_Ellie