Courting Alex: Josh Randall and Jenna Elfman - Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries

Courting Alex aired from January until March 2006 on CBS.

Alex ( Jenna Elfman) was a beautiful, successful attorney working in her father Bill's New York law firm, whose dedication to the job had put a serious cramp in her social life. The kind who negotiated contracts on her cell phone while on a date , she just never seemed to have time to look for Mr. Right. Bill ( Dabney Coleman) was convinced that humorless uptight Stephen ( Josh Stanberg), one of the other attorneys at the firm, was the perfect guy for her, but effervescent Alex wasn't so sure. Then she met handsome, outgoing Scott ( Josh Randall), who owned a building one of their clients wanted to buy and demolish and sparks flew. He had no desire to sell the building or give up the family tavern he ran on its ground floor, but he sure was interested in Alex. Bill was aghast-how could his daughter be attracted to an uneducated guy who ran a bar-and Stephen was frustrated by her sudden unavailability. Alex's very short assistant, Molly ( Jillian Bach), was her confidant at work while her urban English neighbor Julian ( Hugh Bonneville), also offered advice on how to handle the budding romance.

Based on series creator Fred Barron's British series According to Bex.

A Review from Variety

Courting Alex
(Series -- CBS, Mon. Jan. 23, 9:30 p.m.)
By BRIAN LOWRY
Jenna Elfman and Josh Randall meet cute in CBS' 'Courting Alex.'

Filmed in Los Angeles by Touchstone Television in association with Paramount Network Television. Executive producer, Rob Hanning; co-executive producers, Seth Kurland, Eileen Conn; supervising producers, Jim Armogida, Steve Armogida; producers, Faye Oshima Belyeu, Jenna Elfman; co-producer, Nancy Cohen; director, Pamela Fryman; writer, Hanning.

Alex Rose - Jenna Elfman
Bill Rose - Dabney Coleman
Julian - Hugh Bonneville
Scott Larson - Josh Randall
Molly - Jillian Bach
Stephen - Josh Stamberg

Jenna Elfman hasn't lost any of her Dharma charm, but her new CBS comedy otherwise feels like very old news -- an inoffensive but not particularly distinguished half-hour about a career-driven woman trying to introduce romance into her juggling act. Not bad as pilots go, but it's hard to envision the plot for episode No. 3.
Not to be confused with "Judging Amy," "Courting Alex" casts Elfman as a high-powered lawyer whose firm is headed by her crusty dad (Dabney Coleman), and even he would like to see his daughter lighten up a little. "You think too damn much," he tells Alex, bristling at her lack of interest in a somewhat starched co-worker (Josh Stamberg).

Yep, Alex is not exactly a beacon of spontaneity -- at least until she encounters the handsome Scott (Josh Randall, who can also be seen being handsome on NBC's "Scrubs"). Although they're at odds in a dispute over a major deal, Alex is unsettled by Scott's overtures, unable to resist the old-fashioned chemistry.

Having played a free spirit in "Dharma & Greg" (and more recently delivered a grand guest appearance on "Two and a Half Men"), the lanky Elfman goes the buttoned-up route here. Nevertheless, she enjoys some amusing moments with the ever-reliable Coleman, and Jillian Bach is a nice foil as her 5-foot-nothing assistant.

Mostly, though, "Alex" recycles the formula of any number of romantic sitcoms ("Almost Perfect" comes to mind) focusing on women balancing their professional and love lives. As such, its fate boils down to how deftly the producers can slowly unpeel the relationship, and whether Elfman can generate enough star power to keep the lights on. (Based on CBS' initial promo campaign that featured her dancing around like an unusually tall sprite, this must be the best thing the network thinks there is to recommend it.)

Nevertheless, the show has an opportunity to successfully bridge the gap between the aforementioned "Men" and "CSI: Miami," where the so-so "Out of Practice" has held its own and ABC quickly crapped out with its sitcom alternative. Yet given that this is CBS' most valuable comedy real estate, it's worth looking ahead to a far more promising half-hour, the Julia Louis-Dreyfus vehicle "The New Adventures of Old Christine," which is being held in reserve until the spring.

Then again, networks and their sitcoms are subject to unpredictable verdicts in the court of public opinion, where "Alex" can only hope that a majority of the "Men" crowd finds in its favor.

A Review from The New York Times

TV Review | 'Courting Alex'
The Plight of a Single Woman: Too Busy for Life and Love

By ALESSANDRA STANLEY
Published: January 23, 2006

No-nonsense stiff collides with nonchalant scamp. That is the basic formula behind many of the best romantic farces, from "Ninotchka" and "Moonlighting" to Hillary and Bill Clinton.

And that is the plot of CBS's new sitcom, "Courting Alex." Jenna Elfman, who in "Dharma & Greg" played the hippie free spirit, is now the buttoned-down drag: Alex Rose is a workaholic lawyer who takes business calls while out on a date and never loses a case or wins a man.

In tonight's episode, Alex tangles with a sexy, fun-loving stockbroker turned firefighter turned bar owner named Scott (Josh Randall) whom she meets while negotiating a deal; she tries, not very successfully, to resist their chemistry.

Some of the worst romantic comedies are the ones that try to follow the classic formula, and fall short. In even the most far-fetched versions, there are contrasting character flaws to overcome. The girl usually has a plausible reason to reject the guy initially: he is a running dog of capitalism, a freeloading slacker or, sometimes, a compulsive womanizer. But Alex has no reason to pull away from Scott, who is a handsome, well-mannered single man with a job and honorable intentions. There is not even a professional conflict of interest. Basically, he is slightly more loosey-goosey than she, and that difference does not create enough friction to light a fire.

Or launch a sitcom.

It is odd that CBS settled for this kind of tepid, paint-by-numbers series - the very kind of thing that helped drive viewers to reality television in the first place. Many of those who have since had their fill of "The Bachelor" and "The Apprentice" returned to discover a new kind of scripted network show, like "My Name Is Earl" or "The Office." CBS's newest offering is a throwback to a kind of television best left to TV Land.

Frisky, witty repartee would help, but the writing on "Courting Alex" is standard sitcom prattle, punctuated by a laugh track. The banter between Alex and Scott is particularly bland, and the punch lines delivered by secondary characters are not much better. At one point, Alex asks her thrice-married father, played by Dabney Coleman, how someone can tell that a person is right for him. "Easy," he replies. "She signed my pre-nup."

Ms. Elfman, tall, blond and as sinewy as an Olympic athlete, is impressive to look at, but she is not very convincing as a big-city work worm who drives away men. Inevitably, she is propped up by second bananas, including a lecherous British neighbor, Julian (Hugh Bonneville), who regularly pops in at will to leer and borrow things. (Like all single women in New York, Alex keeps her front door unlocked. ) Julian is an artist, and a seemingly successful one. He drops in late one night to borrow Champagne; Alex, of course, is awake and on her treadmill. He explains that he has a New York Times reporter waiting in his apartment. "We're about to go off the record and into the Jacuzzi," he says. (Actually, that does happen all the time.)

CBS is evidently betting heavily on Ms. Elfman's popularity to carry the show, but that kind of gamble seems foolhardy these days. ABC decided to cancel its new single-girl sitcom showcasing Heather Graham, "Emily's Reasons Why Not," after just one episode. There are just as many reasons to dispatch "Courting Alex."

A Review from The Washington Post

'Courting Alex': Without Sparking

By Tom Shales
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 23, 2006;

Jenna Elfman may not qualify as middle-aged (her published age is 34), but there's definitely something frumpily middle-aged about her new CBS sitcom "Courting Alex." One might think any departure from the networks' usual and relentless obsession with youth would automatically be refreshing, but it isn't. Of all life's phases, middle age is the least inherently hilarious.

The fustiness emanates from the star herself, who somewhere along the way -- during or after the run of her ABC sitcom "Dharma & Greg" -- became severely de-cute-rified, ya know what I'm sayin'? We're obviously in a nebulous area here, one hard to define and pin down, but Elfman appears to have gone schoolmarmish on us.

She's the wallflower at her own dance, the pooper of her own party. She's not bad, just flat; not annoying, just weak.

Not that "Courting Alex" (9:30 tonight on Channel 9) would be a bold comedy breakthrough with a livelier and funnier star (say, Teri Garr at her peak) presiding. It's a fairly standard proposition about a successful, single Manhattan lawyer named Alex Rose who, network publicity states, enjoys "everything life has to offer -- except a life." Executive producer Rob Hanning and fellow collaborators took one from Column A, one from Column B, one from Column C and so on as they constructed a vehicle in which Elfman theoretically could shine.

They made, as it happens, one brilliant choice: casting Dabney Coleman as Bill Rose, Alex's father and, conveniently, head of the firm where she works. Coleman's professional life is a history of memorably etched performances in a parade of programs mostly unworthy of his prowess and stature. Among the exceptions are such long-lost treasures as "Buffalo Bill" on NBC and, on ABC, "The 'Slap' Maxwell Story," a daringly downbeat comedy about a daringly deadbeat dad.

Not "deadbeat dad" in the sense of the divorced father behind on child support, but in the sense of a man -- a scoundrelly sportswriter -- viewing fatherhood as a negligible blunder and looking upon his grown son as if he were a pesky extraterrestrial. The show never got the attention it deserved from Nielsen homes, but Coleman and his cohorts made it one of TV's great gourmet delicacies.

In no way could "Courting Alex" be described that way, but there are some good, snappy comic lines -- not all of them easily predicted -- and when called upon to contribute, Coleman consistently comes through with colors flying. Elfman's best moments are semi-dramatic ones, when she deals with conflicts between her personal and professional life brought on by the fact that she's in danger of falling in love with a target of a wealthy client's wrath.

That would be Josh Randall as Scott Larson, a mildly idiosyncratic entrepreneur who stands his ground against a giant heartless corporation (take your pick) that wants to tear down the tavern Larson inherited from his grandfather and put another monstrous skyscraper in its place. Alex girds herself for battle against Larson -- her father's firm having been retained by the corporation -- but finds herself semi-smitten with him instead.

What's a successful, single Manhattan lawyer named Alex Rose to do? CBS hopes that once audiences sample the pilot, they'll be compelled to tune in every week to find out. But between Elfman and Larson, to put it gently, sparks do not fly. They don't even flutter to the floor. You don't know what she sees in him, you don't know what he sees in her, and you don't know why we're supposed to see anything in either of them, singly or linked.

Gathered around Elfman -- from the aforementioned Columns this and that -- are Jillian Bach as Alex's wisecracking friend Molly (you wouldn't expect her to go through life without a wisecracking friend, would you?) and a way-too-twee Hugh Bonneville as Alex's zany neighbor Julian (you wouldn't expect her to go through life etc., etc.?). He's an artist who wants to paint a nude portrait of her and then take it from there.

Coleman is responsible for much of what energy there is, and even though he's played the same sort of sly and wily cynic before, the pleasure of his company is inescapable. Obviously -- and this is said in our usual spirit of TV-inspired, life-affirming optimism -- "Courting Alex" is the sort of show that could improve substantially on its bland first episode and turn out to be sweet and nourishing, but Elfman captures the torpor afflicting the program, and her performance, when she tells Randall, "You're actually kind of funny."

Life is too short, and television too crowded with choices, for "actually kind of" to cut it.

A Review from The Boston Globe

TELEVISION REVIEW
'Courting Alex' lowers bar
By Matthew Gilbert, Globe Staff | January 23, 2006

Every day, Hope and Failure do fierce battle on TV. Hope gently urges us to watch sitcoms, to make sweet light of life. But Failure laughs heartily in Hope's face and yells at us, ''You fools! Don't listen to that naive stooge. I will crush any comic talent that dares to show its face within the borders of prime time. So just give up and surf directly to 'Skating and Dancing With Botox,' do not pass Go."

But Hope, she is undaunted. She gives us that look -- you know the one, with the eternal spring to it -- and she tempts us with a new CBS comedy called ''Courting Alex," which premieres tonight at 9:30 on Channel 4. She says, ''Forget about the bad pun in the title, my friends. Forget about the formulaic concept of a driven career woman afraid of love. This will rock." Hope reminds us that Jenna Elfman had her free-spirited charms in ''Dharma & Greg," and that this series was built specifically as Elfman's vehicle. She asserts that few actors can do cranky-funny as naturally as Dabney Coleman, who costars as Elfman's dad and boss. And she makes other promises, oh, yes, she makes promises.

But, alas, we should have listened to Failure all along. ''Courting Alex," in which Elfman's uptight New York lawyer is courted by a bar owner named Scott (Josh Randall), is a charmless sitcom with absolutely nothing original in it. Oddly, it's even derivative of Elfman's own ''Dharma & Greg," but -- as some network exec must have exclaimed at a meeting -- this time Elfman is the Greg. She's the straight one who's married to her cellphone, and she's the one dealing with a more spontaneous romantic counterpart.

OK, so Alex is trying to get Scott to sell his family tavern, so one of her clients can develop the property, but she's attracted to him, and he's attracted to her, and business and pleasure make uncomfortable bedfellows, so they have all kinds of awkward interactions, and she begins what will inevitably be a constant conflict in her life between her legal ambition and her love affair, a conflict from which all kinds of madcap adventures and punchlines will ensue, particularly since her neighbor (Hugh Bonneville) is a nutty British artist who keeps popping into her apartment to push her into taking risks.

Hey! Wake up!

''Courting Alex" doesn't deserve contempt, if only because it's so harmless and pointless. It's just a feebly made opportunity for Elfman to show she can play something other than a flower child. It's not fueled by hatred or meanness so much as by pure blandness. Ultimately, we can only hope it fails, so that Elfman can find herself a more worthwhile way to court viewers.

For a webpage dedicated to Jenna Elfman go to http://www.jennaelfman.com/