The Origins of Back To You Sitcom

[Brian Damage]

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Fox's Pittsburgh-set TV newsroom sitcom "Back to You" will be in the spotlight this fall because it's one of the few new comedies filmed in front of a studio audience.

Traditional multi-camera sitcoms have become a bit of an endangered species in recent years as dramas, reality shows and single-camera, laugh-track-free comedies ("Scrubs," "The Office") have been more prevalent.



"I don't think any single show should be the savior of any particular form," cautioned Fox Entertainment chairman Peter Liguori.

"Back to You" stars Kelsey Grammer ("Frasier") and Patricia Heaton ("Everybody Loves Raymond") as Pittsburgh news anchors at Channel 9, WURG. They worked together in the '90s, had a brief romantic fling and then Grammer's character moved onto larger markets before meeting with disgrace and landing back in Pittsburgh.

The show's setting isn't entirely arbitrary. Created by Steve Levitan ("Just Shoot Me") and Christopher Lloyd ("Frasier"), the pair was at odds about the station's city, with Lloyd favoring Buffalo, N.Y., and Levitan preferring Pittsburgh, where his college friend, Ken Rice, is an anchor at KDKA-TV. They took the choices to Liguori, who picked Pittsburgh.

"Pittsburgh felt like the right place for these two people, knowing what I know about local news," said Levitan, who worked in TV news before writing sitcoms. "I believe these people in Pittsburgh more than I believe this team in Buffalo."

"They're a little too polished to believe they're from Sioux Falls," Lloyd added.

Rice has been offering tips for the show and sending tapes of Pittsburgh newscasts. He even attended the filming of the pilot earlier this year, Levitan said.

The show's original title, "Action News," couldn't be used because others had copyrighted it, Levitan said, and it was Rice who suggested "Back to You."

"I thought it was very clever," Levitan said. "It works on several levels."

In addition to the Pittsburgh connection with Rice, Levitan said one of the show's writers, Abraham Higginbotham, is from Pittsburgh. And actor Josh Gad, who plays WURG's young, neurotic news director, is a 2003 Carnegie Mellon University graduate.

"Back to You" will be filmed in front of a studio audience on the Fox lot, so it's unlikely Pittsburghers will see Grammer and Heaton in town for filming, But producers are discussing whether to film any of the show's main title sequence on location.

"We want to embrace Pittsburgh," he said.

Levitan said he's always wanted to write a newsroom comedy, because having worked in news, he knows it's a setting ripe for comedy.

"I kept sending scripts to Ken throughout the process, making sure it's still accurate because it's been 15-to-20 years since I've done news," he said. "What's so funny to me about local news is this great narcissism pretending to be altruism. It's a wonderful place for larger-than-life characters to be a big fish in a small pond."

Lewvitan was quick to point out that "Back to You" isn't meant to be another destined-to-fail behind-the-scenes show like "Studio 60," and because it stars familiar sitcom veterans, the show doesn't feel that way.

"It could be an insurance office, and the personal dynamics would be the same," he said.

For Grammer, playing another broadcaster, as he did with his radio shrink on "Frasier," wasn't a concern.

"Based upon my knowledge of most broadcasting now, it's got nothing to do with news anyway," Grammer said. "I'm happy to be a performer pretending to be a performer. Frankly, Frasier was a psychiatrist who happened to be on the air."

Heaton said she and Grammer share the same agent and they had talked about developing a project that would have cast them as rival college professors, the dead-white-male professor vs. Heaton's women's lib professor. That never materialized.

"I was doing this play in New York for 600 bucks a week and my agent called and I said, 'Yes, whatever it is!' " she said.

"That's flattering, Patty," Levitan said, getting laughs.

"Not only was it the funniest script I'd been offered, it was the only one I'd been offered," Heaton continued. "So that was a winning combination for me."

Also on Fox: The network has ordered additional seasons of "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Hell's Kitchen" for 2008. "Mad TV,' which premieres its 13th season Sept. 15, will tape its new season at the Henry Fonda Music Box Theater in Hollywood to enhance its live-event feeling.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07204/803670-237.stm

[Janice]

I'm just thrilled that Fred Willard is going to be on this show. He always cracks me up. So it's Chuck and Kelly. Any word on their personalities? I hope they don't make Chuck a baffoon and a verbal punching bag for Kelly. I'd like to see some good equal verbal sparring.

[Brian Damage]

Originally Posted by Janice

I'm just thrilled that Fred Willard is going to be on this show. He always cracks me up. So it's Chuck and Kelly. Any word on their personalities? I hope they don't make Chuck a baffoon and a verbal punching bag for Kelly. I'd like to see some good equal verbal sparring.

I like Fred Willard too. I think he is a very underrated comedic actor. As for Chuck and Kelly, I too hope for some good heated banter. I am sure they will pair them up down the line if the show succeeds.