Watching Ellie

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Watching Ellie
Cast photo from season 1
Genre	Comedy (sitcom)
Creator(s)	Brad Hall
Starring	Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Steve Carell, Don Lake, Lauren Bowles, Peter Stormare & Darren Boyd
Country of origin	USA
No. of episodes	19
Production
Camera setup	Single (Season 1), Multiple (Season 2)
Running time	22 min.
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Original run	February 26, 2002 – May 20, 2003
Links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Watching Ellie is an American sitcom that starred Julia Louis-Dreyfus and was created by her husband, Brad Hall. It aired on NBC from February 2002 to May 2003, though only sixteen episodes were broadcast before it was cancelled due to low ratings.

1 Premise and formats
2 Cast
3 Seinfeld curse
4 External links

[edit] Premise and formats

There were two incarnations of Watching Ellie, neither of which met with any success. Both focused on the character of cabaret singer Ellie Riggs (Louis-Dreyfus), with markedly different approaches.

The first was directed by Ken Kwapis, known for his innovative work in single-camera sitcoms such as The Larry Sanders Show, Malcolm in the Middle and The Bernie Mac Show. Each 22-minute episode was meant to portray a 22-minute slice of Ellie's life, in real-time. In the earliest episodes, a clock was even shown in the corner of the screen. After ten episodes, the series was put on indefinite hiatus.

Nearly a full year later, the show reappeared as a more traditional sitcom, with multiple cameras and a live studio audience (plus an added laugh track). It was cancelled six episodes later.

The show also cast Lauren Bowles as Ellie's sister Susan. Bowles also had a minor role on Seinfeld as one of the waitresses at Monk's Cafe. In real life, Bowles is Louis-Dreyfus' half-sister (they have the same mother).

[edit] Cast

Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Ellie Riggs
Lauren Bowles - Susan
Steve Carell - Edgar
Darren Boyd - Musician
Peter Stormare - Ingvar
Don Lake - Dr. Zimmerman.

[edit] Seinfeld curse

Watching Ellie is seen as evidence of a "Seinfeld Curse", as it is one of multiple sitcom vehicles for former Seinfeld stars that was quickly cancelled. Other instances include The Michael Richards Show, Bob Patterson and Listen Up!. However, the early success of Louis-Dreyfus' next sitcom, The New Adventures of Old Christine (debuted 2006), suggests the "curse" may have been broken.