Back to You

Back to You

The Back to You title card
Genre Situation comedy
Created by Christopher Lloyd
Steven Levitan
Directed by James Burrows
Starring Kelsey Grammer
Patricia Heaton
Ayda Field
Laura Marano
Lily Jackson
Josh Gad
Ty Burrell
Fred Willard
Theme music composer Adam Anders
Country of origin United States
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 17 (3 unaired in the U.S.) (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Christopher Lloyd
Steven Levitan
James Burrows
Kelsey Grammer
Producer(s) Maggie Randell-Blanc
Editor(s) Ron Volk
Location(s) Pittsburgh,
20th Century Fox Studios,
Los Angeles, CA
Camera setup Multiple-camera setup
Running time 22–24 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel Fox
Picture format 1.33:1 480i (SDTV),
1.78:1 1080i (HDTV)
Original run September 19, 2007 (2007-09-19) – May 14, 2008 (2008-05-14)
External links
Website

Back to You is an American situation comedy series, which aired on Fox from September 19, 2007 to May 14, 2008. The creators and executive producers were Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, and the director was James Burrows.[1] The series starred Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton as squabbling anchors of a news program.[2] It was cancelled after one season.

Contents

Plot

Chuck Darling (Grammer) and Kelly Carr (Heaton) were co-anchors of Pittsburgh news program WURG News 9 that had great on-screen chemistry, despite constant quarreling off-screen. However, Chuck left to take a job elsewhere. After an embarrassing comment he makes results in his dismissal from a large market LA newscast, Chuck returns to Pittsburgh after 10 years to become anchor on the newscast he originally left.[3][4] Chuck also learns that he is the father of Carr's 10-year-old daughter. Their daughter, Gracie, turns 11 years old in the episode, "Something's Up There".

Cast and characters

Guest stars

Episodes

Chronologically Fox aired the episodes out of order. The chronological episode list is:

Production history

Conception

It was reported in January 2007 that Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton were in talks to lead the cast of the series, originally titled Action News, which only had a script commitment with 20th Century Fox Television at the time.[10] The script was reportedly a hot commodity with numerous networks interested before Fox outbid the competition and gave it a blind thirteen-episode commitment in February 2007. Upon its pick-up, it also became Levitan and Lloyd's first project under their production banner, Levitan-Lloyd Productions. Grammer and Heaton were also confirmed to star in the series in the same month.[11] It was renamed Back to You in April 2007 because Pittsburgh has a real life Channel 4 Action News.[12] (The show was originally to be set in Buffalo, New York, which, at least in name, did not have an Action News station, but Lloyd felt that having a major-market news personality fall from Los Angeles (market #2) to Buffalo (market #49) was implausible. This was despite the fact that several prominent Los Angeles news anchors, including John Beard, Nick Clooney, Maria Genero, Kevin O'Connell, and John Stehlin have all moved from the Los Angeles to the Buffalo markets, and all but Clooney remain there to this day.) The series was officially greenlit on May 11, 2007.[13] James Burrows, who had directed all the episodes of the show joined the staff as an executive producer in June 2007.[14]

Produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Levitan-Lloyd Productions, the series premiered on September 19, 2007.[15] The show aired on Wednesday nights at 8:00/7:00c on Fox, leading out 'Til Death, which features Heaton's former Everybody Loves Raymond co-star, Brad Garrett. The first episode rated a promising 9.44 million viewers for Fox.[13]

On October 24, 2007 the show was picked up for an additional 11 episodes, bringing the total number of episodes to 24.[16]

Also, despite the show's cancellation, and no guarantee of its renewal, Channel 4 in the United Kingdom picked up the show.[17] The series premiered in the UK on Wednesday, 11 June 2008 on More4 at 9.30pm.

Production notes

Back to You was filmed at 20th Century Fox Studios in Los Angeles, California.[18]

Casting

After the first two leads were found, Paul Campbell and Aimee Garcia were originally cast as Ryan Church and Montana Diaz Herrera respectively in February 2007 but the roles were re-cast in April 2007 with Josh Gad and Ayda Field replacing them.[12][19] Fred Willard was also cast as Marsh McGinley in February.[19] Casting continued throughout March with Ty Burrell and Laura Marano landing the last two regular spots in the series.[20][21] There was also talk of casting Sung Hi Lee in a recurring role as Chuck Darling's love interest, but the producers decided in April to go in a different direction.[22] She did appear in the Pilot.

The role of Gracie Carr was re-cast starting the tenth episode, "The Wall of Fame", and was played by Lily Jackson. Ayda Field was also dropped from the show after the tenth episode. The background used for Ayda Field's credit in the title sequence, a weather map of the United States, was still briefly shown but her image was replaced by a silhouette of a man.

Writers’ strike

Production on the show was halted on November 6, 2007 due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.[23]

The show went on hiatus on November 14 but returned on Tuesday February 26, 2008 at 9:30/8:30c. It aired a new episode that night and another on Wednesday February 27, 2008, the following day, and new episodes began airing weekly, starting Wednesday April 16, 2008. On this day, Back to You moved to its new time slot at 8:30/7:30c, following 'Til Death, and replacing The Moment of Truth.[24]

Cancellation

Despite having better ratings than its comedy companion 'Til Death, the series was not renewed by the network on May 9, 2008, while 'Til Death was renewed.[25]

The comedy was shopped around for a new home, under Grammer's request, and CBS was interested in picking up the comedy for a second season. With this, CBS was also interested in using the comedy to open an extension night of comedy beyond Monday night, giving the series as a solid anchor for the extension.

However, Grammer was already searching for a new show and ABC had given him some new projects (one was an overseas remake of Roman's Empire, which failed to pick up, and Hank, which premiered Fall 2009, but was canceled after five episodes). Heaton also was interested in an ABC project (The Middle, which also premiered in fall 2009). As a result, Back to You was never renewed.

In a somewhat related note, the creators of the show, Lloyd & Levitan, would go on to create another fall 2009 series for ABC, Modern Family, which features fellow Back to You star Burrell, as well as Willard as Burrell's character's father, and even airs after The Middle (which aired after Hank from September–November 2009).

Reception

Critical reaction

Back to You received generally mixed reviews, receiving a rating of 58 from Metacritic.[26]

Controversy

The episode "Something's Up There" (aired November 14, 2007) involved Marsh trying to convince the show's lone Polish-American character, Gary, to go bowling after work by saying: "Come on, it's in your blood, like kielbasa and collaborating with the Nazis." Fox later apologized on November 20, 2007. They vowed never to air the line of dialogue again in repeats and/or syndicated broadcasts. Fox stated that, "The line was delivered by a character known for being ignorant, clueless, and for saying outlandish things. Allowing the line to remain in the show, however, demonstrated poor judgment, and we apologize to anyone who was offended."[27]

U.S. television ratings

Season Timeslot Season Premiere Season Finale TV Season Ranking Viewers
(in millions)
1st Wednesday 8:00PM September 19, 2007 May 14, 2008 2007–2008 #109[28] 6.54[28]

DVD release

Season 1
Set Details Special Features
  • 17 episodes
  • 3-disc set
  • 16:9 aspect ratio
  • Languages:
    • English
    • English subtitles
    • Spanish subtitles
    • French subtitles
  • Behind the Scenes with Back to You Featurette
  • This Just In Featurette
  • Gag Reel Featurette
Release Dates
Region 1 Region 4
October 14, 2008 October 22, 2008

References

  1. ^ "Back to You at the". The Futon Critic. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/showatch.aspx?id=back_to_you. 
  2. ^ "Frasier star makes sitcom return". BBC News. 2007-05-18. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6668997.stm. Retrieved 2007-05-18. 
  3. ^ "Fox's New Shows for the 2007-08 Season". zap2it.com. http://www.zap2it.com/tv/zap-photogallery-foxupfronts-2007,0,1287975.photogallery. Retrieved 2007-05-22. 
  4. ^ "Fox's fall schedule". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2007-05-17. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07137/786853-352.stm. Retrieved 2007-05-22. 
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Pilot". Back to You. Fox Broadcasting Company. 2007-09-19. No. 1, season 1.
  6. ^ a b "First Supper". Back to You. Fox Broadcasting Company. 2007-10-03. No. 3, season 1.
  7. ^ "Gracie's Bully". Back to You. Fox Broadcasting Company. 2007-11-07. No. 6, season 1.
  8. ^ a b "Something's Up There". Back to You. Fox Broadcasting Company. 2007-11-14. No. 7, season 1.
  9. ^ a b "Fish Story". Back to You. Fox Broadcasting Company. 2007-09-26. No. 2, season 1.
  10. ^ DEVELOPMENT UPDATE: TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, The Futon Critic
  11. ^ DEVELOPMENT UPDATE: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, The Futon Critic
  12. ^ a b "Development Update: Thursday - Friday (April 12–13)". The Futon Critic. 2007-04-13. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=7357. Retrieved 2007-06-29. 
  13. ^ a b FOX RENEWS 'DEATH' VOWS, PICKS UP SEXTET, The Futon Critic
  14. ^ "WHO'S IN & WHO'S OUT NEXT SEASON". The Futon Critic. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/guide.aspx?id=in_and_out. 
  15. ^ Boedeker, Hal (2007-07-10). "Fox announces premiere dates; "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" returns Aug. 30". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on 2007-08-24. http://web.archive.org/web/20070824175844/http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2007/07/fox-announces-p.html. Retrieved 2007-07-10. 
  16. ^ Fox (2007-10-25). "FOX ORDERS ADDITIONAL EPISODES OF "BACK TO YOU"". The Futon Critic. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20071025fox01. Retrieved 2007-10-31. 
  17. ^ TV Scoop: New Kelsey Grammer comedy Back To You on Channel 4 in a few weeks time
  18. ^ "Free tv studio audience tickets" (in English). Audiences Unlimited. 2007. http://www.tvtickets.com/fmi/xsl/shows/browserecord.xsl?&Show=back+you. Retrieved 2007-09-02. 
  19. ^ a b DEVELOPMENT UPDATE: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, The Futon Critic
  20. ^ DEVELOPMENT UPDATE: TUESDAY, MARCH 13, The Futon Critic
  21. ^ 2007 Fox PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT GUIDE - COMEDY SERIES, The Futon Critic
  22. ^ Sung-hi.com
  23. ^ "Production Stops on at least 6 Sitcoms". Archived from the original on 2007-12-13. http://web.archive.org/web/20071213044026/http://tv.yahoo.com/back-to-you/show/41055/news/urn:newsml:tv.ap.org:20071106:hollywood_labor. Retrieved 2007-11-06. 
  24. ^ Breaking News - Fox RETURNS SERIES TO PRODUCTION | TheFutonCritic.com
  25. ^ "FOX Cancels Back to You, Renews 'Til Death". http://tvseriesfinale.com/articles/fox-cancels-back-to-you-renews-til-death/. Retrieved 2008-05-10. 
  26. ^ a b c d e f g "Back to You SERIES: Fox, Wednesday 8:00p (30 minutes)". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/tv/shows/backtoyou?q=back%20to%20you. Retrieved 2007-09-20. 
  27. ^ Huff, Richard (2007-11-21). "Shamed Fox apologizes for Polish slur on 'Back to You'". NY Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2007/11/21/2007-11-21_shamed_fox_apologizes_for_polish_slur_on.html. Retrieved 2007-11-28. 
  28. ^ a b "Season Program Rankings from 09/24/07 through 05/25/08". ABC Medianet. May 28, 2008. http://abcmedianet.com/web/dnr/dispDNR.aspx?id=052808_06. Retrieved 2009-07-03. 

External links