The New Adventures of Old Christine

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The New Adventures of Old Christine
Format	Sitcom
Created by	Kari Lizer
Starring	Julia Louis-Dreyfus Clark Gregg Hamish Linklater Trevor Gagnon Emily Rutherfurd Tricia O'Kelley Alex Kapp Horner Wanda Sykes
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	45 (List of episodes)
Production
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	approx. 23 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	March 13, 2006 – present
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The New Adventures of Old Christine is a CBS situation comedy starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as a single, American mother. The series debuted as a midseason replacement on March 13, 2006 and is currently preparing to broadcast its fourth season debuting September 2008. Old Christine, as it is sometimes called, is produced by Warner Bros. Television production and was created by writer Kari Lizer, who is also the show's executive producer.

1 Background
2 Cast
3 Seasons
4 Reviews
5 Nielsen ratings/CBS broadcast history
6 DVD Release
7 Awards
- 7.1 Awards
- 7.2 Nominations
8 References
9 External links

[edit] Background

The show stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld) as Christine Campbell, a divorced mother and owner of a women's gym. The program revolves around Christine finding herself trying to keep pace with everyone around her such as the 'meanie moms' (Alex Kapp Horner, Tricia O'Kelley) at her son's new private school after things complicate when her ex-husband (Clark Gregg) starts to date another, or new, Christine (Emily Rutherfurd). Hamish Linklater plays Matthew, "Old" Christine's live-in brother and Emmy winner Wanda Sykes portrays Christine's best friend Barb.

The show features a broad ensemble, and includes Blair Underwood, Dave Foley, Scott Bakula, Andy Richter and Jane Lynch as recurring performers.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Main Cast

Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Old Christine Campbell

Christine is the main character of the series, Christine is seen as the average American mom. She owns a 30-minute workout gym for women, is divorced, has a son, doesn't vote unless it's for American Idol and is completely self-centered.

Clark Gregg as Richard Campbell

Richard is Christine's ex-husband and friend. He was married to Christine for over ten years before finding love in New Christine, who complicates Christine's life. Richard is a contractor and went to a two-year community college in Nevada.

Hamish Linklater as Matthew

Matthew is Christine's live-in brother, as well as a serving nanny. Matthew often finds himself having to tend to Christine's strange problems and emotions.

Trevor Gagnon as Ritchie Campbell

Ritchie is Christine and Richard's only son. Ritchie began the series in third grade and has progressed in age. Ritchie can be seen as often oblivious to strange events that transpire around him, and can be viewed as a bit air-headed at times, made more obvious at his posh private school.

Emily Rutherfurd as New Christine Hunter

'New' Christine is Richard's live-in girlfriend and unknowingly to her, Christine's nemesis. Christine's youth and beauty often intimidates Christine, creating a lot of friction. 'New' Christine is seen as very oblivious and 'out-of-it', as she often finds herself making ridiculous comments and not able to work things.

Tricia O'Kelley as Marly and Alex Kapp Horner as Lindsay

Marly and Lindsay are the meanie moms at Ritchie's private school. They are room parents, party-planners etc. They find immense joy in making a fool out of Christine and the Campbell family, as when they see them Marly refers to them as 'The crazy, mixed up Campbell family'. Lindsay is seen at times with a little bit more heart and finds herself not matching up to Marly's evil sometimes.

Wanda Sykes as Barb

Barb is Christine's rough-around-the-edges best friend. Barb is notably unemotional and very rough, as in the later seasons her role increases in the series, we see her go through split-ups and eventually a divorce with her husband Pete. Barb, in the most recent episode of the series, is found out at taking testosterone cream.

[edit] Recurring Cast

(If character is in bold, dubbed as a special guest in their appearances.)

Tom Papa as Mike Gay

Christine's only friend at Westbridge, as he is similar to Christine in not wealthy and divorced. Introduced in Popular (3.03)

Andy Richter as 'Sad Dad' Stan

The sad, divorced and mocked father at Westbridge that Christine finds herself unable to not sleep with. She later announces why she finds him so irresistible. Introduced in Supertramp. (1.02)

Scott Bakula as Jeff Hunter

Originally Christine's love interest, but soon 'New' Christine's father! They continue to date for a while after but eventually becomes too much for Christine. Introduced in The Answer is Maybe. (2.02)

Dave Foley as Tom

Richard's work associate and obsesser of Christine. After he got sick on their first date, they slightly bonded later in the series. Introduced in The Real Thing. (2.18)

Blair Underwood as Daniel Harris

Former teacher of Ritchie until he gave it up to date Christine. Christine had been in love with him for a long time and although dating goes well, it eventually becomes to much for Daniel because of Christine's schedule. Introduced in The Passion of the Christine. (2.01)

Amy Farrington as Ali

Quiet, shy and surprisingly witty worker at the gym. Introduced in Pilot. (1.01)

Jordan Baker as Mrs. Belt

Ritchie's likeable third grade teacher. In her last appearance had her find out strange things about Christine. Introduced in Pilot. (1.01)

Matt Letscher as Burton Shaffer

Christine's on-and-off romantic interest. She always finds herself stupidly splitting them up until Burton had therapy. They dated again but he was so different and strange Christine couldn't take it. Introduced in Open Water. (1.03)

Lily Goff as Ashley

Marly's air-headed daughter. Introduced in The Other 'F' Word. (1.06)

Marissa Blanchard as Kelsey

Lindsay's daughter with lesbian tendencies. Introduced in The Other 'F' Word. (1.06)

Nancy Lenehan as Kit/Mrs. Nunley

Peppy principal of Ritchie's school. Before this, she guest starred as Kit in Teach Your Children Well (1.08). Mrs. Nunley introduced in Come to Papa Jeff. (2.03)

Anthony Holiday as Pete

Ex-husband of Barb. Seems to have little emotions. Introduced in Open Water. (1.03)

Mary Beth Donough as Mrs. Wilhoite

Popular and meanie mom at the school. Introduced in Ritchie has Two Mommies. (1.09)

Jane Lynch as Ms. Hammond

Ethics Counselor and gym teacher at the school. Introduced in The Real Thing. (2.18)

[edit] Special Guest Stars

Jason Alexander in One and a Half Men
Rachael Harris in My Big Fat Sober Wedding
Sandra Bernhard in Strange Bedfellows

[edit] Seasons

Main article: List of The New Adventures of Old Christine episodes

[edit] Season 1

Season 1 of The New Adventures of Old Christine consisted of 13 episodes, kicked off by setting up the show's premise. Christine found out at her son's new posh private school that her ex-husband and friend is dating a new, younger girlfriend, also named Christine. Christine then sets out to find some happiness, and begins to date Burton until Christine can't tell him she loves him, leading to a breakup. Christine also had some showdowns with meanie moms Marly and Lindsay, and in the season finale, Christine had a chance to get back with Burton, which was plagued when he found out that she'd slept with Richard the previous day. New Christine left Richard when he told her, closing the season with a cliffhanger.

[edit] Season 2

Season 2 had a full 22-episode order, and continued the explosive season 1 finale where Ritchie incorrectly told his new class that Richard and Christine had reconciled. Christine and Richard, following this, unsuccessfully give their relationship another try. The next episode found Christine meet a handsome man and begin to date him, as Richard and New Christine reconciled. However, when Christine, New Christine, Richard and the stranger are in the house, New Christine calls out the man as her father, effectively complicating the once strong relationship. Shortly after in the season, the two broke up.

Still early, Christine and Ritchie's new teacher expressed their feelings for each other but established they couldn't get romantically involved. As the season progressed, Christine sent out an email that found Mr. Harris nearly fired, and Christine realized she had to move on, and she began dating Tom, but the date was ruined when he had diarrhea. Christine and Mr. Harris once again hit it off. As the season began to conclude, Matthew and Barb started to express feelings for each other after a messy wedding where Christine ruined the bride's time and New Christine, again, left Richard. Christine and Richard again slept together where Christine suffered a pregnancy scare, which thankfully was avoided. The season finished with Richard and New Christine together and Christine and Mr. Harris together.

[edit] Season 3

In a 10-episode third season (Shortened due to the WGA strike), Christine and Mr. Harris had a smooth going relationship, until Christine's schedule became to hectic midway through the season, and to her dismay, he left her. Christine made a new friend earlier, Mike, who tried to help her through the breakup. Christine then tried dating again but then dated a guy who proved to still be in high school, obviously not going well. Richard and New Christine bought a house and it turned out to be Christine's dream house, not sitting right with her. Matthew and Barb slept together and stayed together to punish Christine, although not into each other in reality. They split up at the end of the season. The finale featured Jason Alexander, as the episode set up a Seinfeld Reunion.

[edit] Reviews

The review website Metacritic.com, which tabulates critics' reviews, gave it a 64 — equating to their summary of "generally positive reviews", with 16 out of 26 critics reviews deemed as positive.^[1] A Los Angeles Times review notes that "Louis-Dreyfus makes Christine feel fresh and real" and the show has a "dry charm and a nice tone of affectionate irony."^[2] The review continues:

“

While it occasionally runs to the absurd — a blind date who won't eat food other people have touched and brings his own chicken to a restaurant — it stays for the most part within the realm of recognizable human relations, and lets you feel something for its characters. This was not a luxury Seinfeld ever afforded anyone, and it's nice to see the star getting to play something less cerebrally conceived, less obsessive-compulsive and more ordinarily well-rounded.

”

A 2007 People magazine review concerning the episode "My Big Fat Sober Wedding" described the show as maintaining its freshness well into the second season. The show received 3 out of 4 stars.

Several reviewers noted that the show may have broken the 'Seinfeld Curse', as former Seinfeld star Julia Louis-Dreyfus won an Emmy for her leading role on the comedy show after the show's first season. Previous Seinfeld actors had not faired so well.

[edit] Nielsen ratings/CBS broadcast history

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of The New Adventures of Old Christine on CBS.

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps. All times listed are North American Eastern Time.

Season	Time slot	Premiere	Finale	TV Season	Rank	Viewers (millions)
1	Monday 9:30 P.M. (March 13, 2006 - May 22, 2006)	March 13, 2006	May 22, 2006	2005-2006	#29	12.5^[3]
2	Monday 9:30 P.M. (September 18, 2006 - January 22, 2007) Monday 8:30 P.M. (March 12, 2007 - May 7, 2007)	September 18, 2006	May 7, 2007	2006-2007	#40	10.4^[4]
3	Monday 9:30 P.M. (February 4, 2008 - March 31, 2008) Monday 8:30 P.M. (March 10, 2008)	February 4, 2008	March 31, 2008	2007-2008	#37	10.4^[5]
4	Wednesday 8:00 P.M. (TBA, 2008 - TBA, 2009)	TBA, 2008	TBA, 2009	2008-2009	TBA	TBA

The show's initial ratings success is the first example of a show breaking the "Seinfeld curse" (after the failures of The Michael Richards Show, Bob Patterson, Listen Up, and Louis-Dreyfus' own Watching Ellie).^[6] On October 3, 2006, The Futon Critic announced that the show had been given a full 22-episode order.

Old Christine's time slot was changed during the second season, thus eliciting a decline in ratings after losing its Two and a Half Men lead-in.

On May 16, 2007, it was announced that, despite the decline in ratings, CBS would renew the show for the 2007-2008 season as a mid-season replacement.^[7] On November 6, 2007, CBS said that production of Old Christine had been halted due to a strike by the Writers Guild of America.^[8] On December 13, 2007 CBS announced that Old Christine will return for its third season, which premiered on February 4, 2008, replacing Rules of Engagement.^[9] However, only ten episodes of the original 13-episode order were produced and aired for the third season due to the Writers Guild of America strike.^[10]

On May 14, 2008, CBS gave the sitcom a 22-episode order for the 2008-2009 season, which will see the series airing on Wednesdays to open a second comedy night for the network.^[11]

[edit] DVD Release

DVD name	Release date	Ep #	Additional information
The Complete First Season	January 15, 2008	13	Featurette: The Real Christine, Unaired scenes, Gag reel.
The Complete Second Season	June 24, 2008 [1]	22	Featurette: Behind the scenes, Unaired scenes, Gag reel.

[edit] Awards

Emmy Awards

2006 — Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series — Julia Louis-Dreyfus

[edit] Nominations

Emmy Awards

2007 — Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series — Julia Louis-Dreyfus
2006 — Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi Camera Series — Gregg Heschong, for episode "Open Water"

Golden Globe Awards