"What About Joan": Can Cusack tackle TV comedy?

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https://web.archive.org/web/20010402...Dartslife%2Dtv

"The writers never establish what 'normal' is in 'Joan,'" says David Zurawik. "So the audience is left watching Joan bounce off the walls for nearly half an hour. Fifteen minutes into it, the experience starts to feel like the nonstop wail of a baby at night — you just want to get away."

• "She must play TV — a much more intimate medium — with more grace and understatement," says Monica Collins. "Once Cusack settles down, 'What About Joan' could be a treasure. Already, the comedy is a pleasure."
  
• "Such a format sounds like traditional, predictable sitcom fare, which, on paper, aptly describes 'What About Joan?'" says Dusty Saunders. "The difference is Cusack, whose likability factor is sky-high and whose personality and sexual insecurities should resonate with Everywoman."
  
• "There are relationships that don't make sense, characters that simply don't belong, performances that need to be reined in and situations that exist only to set up mediocre jokes," says Phil Rosenhtal.
  
• "Somewhere in the world of television production, someone should get the manual on 'How To Make a Sitcom,' take it out and shoot it," says Rick Kushman."Frighteningly, producers really do stick to some very tired rules about these half-hours, and enough of them show up in 'What About Joan' to make the series feel like another case of here we go again. There's nothing overtly annoying or terribly wrong with the show. It's just not particularly fresh or, more importantly, particularly funny."
  
• What it's like to see a "Joan" taping