The New Adventures of Old Christine | |
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Series original logo |
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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 |
Language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 5 |
No. of episodes | 88 (List of episodes) |
Production | |
Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 23 minutes |
Production company(s) | Kari's Logo Here Warner Bros. Television |
Broadcast | |
Original channel | CBS |
Picture format | 480i (SDTV) 720p (HDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
Original run | March 13, 2006 | – May 12, 2010
External links | |
Website |
The New Adventures of Old Christine is an American comedy series starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus which ran for five seasons on CBS from March 13, 2006, to May 12, 2010. The show received nine Emmy Award nominations, winning one for Louis-Dreyfus' performance in the first season.[1]
Contents |
Christine Campbell (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is a neurotic divorced mother and owner of a women's gym who is in a constant struggle to keep pace with those around her. A frequent fixture in her life is her irresponsible ex-husband Richard (Clark Gregg), whose new girlfriend (Emily Rutherfurd) is also named Christine, hence the nickname "Old Christine". Dreyfus' character Christine lives with her son Ritchie (Trevor Gagnon) and her brother Matthew (Hamish Linklater), while Christine's best friend and colleague Barb (Wanda Sykes) is constantly a shoulder for Christine to lean upon. Christine also struggles with her inferiority complex with the bitchy "meanie-moms", Marly Ehrhardt (Tricia O'Kelley) and Lindsay (Alex Kapp Horner) at her son's private school.
The show features guest spots and recurring appearances from a wide range of established actors including Blair Underwood, Dave Foley, Eric McCormack, Tatyana Ali, Jason Alexander, Jennifer Grey, Megan Mullally, Shar Jackson, Adrienne Barbeau, Scott Bakula, Andy Richter, Lee Tergesen, Mo'Nique and Jane Lynch.
The first season consists of 13 episodes and premiered on March 13, 2006. In this season Christine has only just enrolled her son, Ritchie, at a new posh private school, where she is constantly being humiliated by Marly and Lindsay, some non-working mothers at the school. On top of all this she has just discovered her ex-husband, Richard has started dating a much younger woman who is also named Christine. Christine has a brief fling with Burton Shaffer, Christine's on-and-off romantic interest, but they soon break up due to Christine not being able to commit to the relationship. In the season finale Christine kisses her ex-, Richard, causing him to tell New Christine, who promptly breaks up with him.
The second season consists of 22 episodes and premiered on September 18, 2006. Due to Richard and Christine's brief kiss, Ritchie believes that his parents have gotten back together, much to his parents' dismay. Christine starts dating an older man whom she later discovers is New Christine's father; this situation causes Richard and New Christine to rekindle their romance once again. Barb decides to start working at the gym with Christine, while Christine falls hard for Ritchie's new teacher, Mr. Harris. The season finale included Richard sleeping with Christine after breaking up with New Christine yet again. This causes a pregnancy scare for Christine, which is soon avoided. Eventually, New Christine takes Richard back and Mr. Harris takes a new teaching job at another school to be with Christine.
The third season was scheduled as a midseason replacement on CBS with 13 episodes scheduled. Due to the 2007 writer's strike, the third season consists of only 10 episodes. The third season premiered on February 4, 2008. Christine and Mr. Harris have a good relationship, until Christine's schedule becomes too hectic midway through the season; so they eventually break up. Meanwhile, Richard and New Christine buy a house together, which coincidentally is Christine's dream house, leaving her feeling jealous and confused. Barb leaves her husband and she has a short-lived fling with Matthew, much to Christine's horror.
The fourth season, consisting of 22 episodes, premiered on September 24, 2008. As Barb is divorced she is facing deportation from the U.S., so Christine decides to marry her in a sham lesbian marriage in order to keep her best friend in the country. Richard and New Christine become engaged while Matthew finds love with one of his clients. Christine has a brief relationship with an obsessive man named Patrick, while she and Barb decide to turn their gym into a spa which they later discover has turned into a brothel. On the day of Richard and New Christine's wedding, Christine briefly gets back together with New Christine's father, but is later left heartbroken when she discovers that he is engaged. This causes Richard to rush to Christine's side, provoking the jealous New Christine to leave him at the altar. Meanwhile Barb and Christine's sham marriage is discovered by an INS officer, leaving Barb imprisoned.
The fifth season, consisting of 21 episodes, premiered on September 23, 2009. Following Barb's arrest, she is rescued by Christine, Matthew and Barb's new boyfriend Dave. While Richard tries to win New Christine back, he temporarily moves into a new apartment with Matthew. Christine begins going to therapy, but she is attracted to her therapist, Max. They eventually abandon Christine's therapy and strike up a relationship instead. New Christine announces that she is pregnant, causing Richard to rekindle his relationship with her. New Christine eventually gives birth to a baby girl. Meanwhile, Barb becomes engaged to a reluctant Dave. At the conclusion of the season, Christine also becomes engaged to Max, but she feels intimidated by his very educated friends, so she decides to return to college.
"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."
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.[2] 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."[3]
The show's initial ratings success was 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).[4] The series premiere reached 15.1 million viewers.
Old Christine's time slot was changed mid-way through the second season, with 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 a third season 2007-2008 as a mid-season replacement.[5] On November 6, 2007, CBS said that production of Old Christine had been halted because of a strike by the Writers Guild of America.[6] On December 13, 2007 CBS announced that the series would return for its third season, which premiered on February 4, 2008, replacing Rules of Engagement.[7] However, only 10 episodes of the original 13-episode order were produced and aired for the third season because of the WGA strike.[8]
On May 14, 2008, CBS gave the sitcom a 22-episode order for the 2008-2009 season, where it aired on Wednesdays, opening up a second comedy night for the network.[9] Only 6.7 million viewers tuned in to the premiere. The following week, despite not having to go up against ratings success Dancing with the Stars, ratings tip-toed up, as it added a few hundred thousand. By the third episode, the show was over 7.5 million and had added more than one million to the premiere audience. Since then, the fourth season Old Christine had ratings close to 8 million viewers, and came first in its time slot multiple times.
The early ratings for the fifth season had been lower than previous seasons, but the 14th episode of the season reached 8.3 million viewers, the highest viewership the show had received in the Wednesday night timeslot. When the future of the show was uncertain at CBS, ABC showed interest in the series on several occasions, and on May 3, 2010, Deadline Hollywood reported that ABC was in negotiations with Warner Bros. to pick up Old Christine, should CBS cancel it. On May 18, 2010, CBS canceled Old Christine. Upon CBS canceling the show, creator Kari Lizer slammed the network and suggested the decision to cancel the show was sexist.[10] After the CBS cancellation, rumors continued that ABC was interested in the show, but these plans have not come to fruition.
Season | Timeslot (EST) | Season Premiere | Season Finale | TV Season | Rank | Viewers (in millions) |
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1 | Monday 9:30/8:30c | March 13, 2006 | May 22, 2006 | 2005–2006 | #29 | 12.5 |
2 | Monday 9:30/8:30c | September 18, 2006 | May 7, 2007 | 2006–2007 | #40 | 10.4 |
3 | Monday 9:30/8:30c | February 4, 2008 | March 31, 2008 | 2007–2008 | #38 | 10.4 |
4 | Wednesday 8:00/7:00c | September 24, 2008 | May 20, 2009 | 2008–2009 | #73 | 7.3 |
5 | Wednesday 8:00/7:00c | September 23, 2009 | May 12, 2010 | 2009–2010 | #66 | 6.7 |
The New Adventures of Old Christine is now syndicated on local stations, Lifetime, and WGN America.
In Australia The New Adventures of Old Christine is being repeated Monday to Wednesday nights at 11:30pm on Nine Network.
Year | Award | Title | Recipient | Result |
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2006 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Series | Gregg Heschong | Nominated |
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Won | ||
Satellite Award | Best Actress in a TV Series - Comedy or Musical | Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Nominated | |
2007 | Art Directors Guild Award | Best Production Design for a Multi-Camera Series | Cabot McMullen | Nominated |
Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Nominated | |
Gold Derby TV Award | Best Actress in a Comedy Series | Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Nominated | |
Golden Globe Award | Best Actress in a TV Series - Comedy or Musical | Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Nominated | |
Humanitas Prize | 30 Minute Category | Won | ||
Satellite Award | Best Actress in a TV Series - Comedy or Musical | Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Nominated | |
Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series | Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Nominated | |
2008 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Art Direction for a Multi-Camera Series | Cabot McMullen, Amy Feldman | Nominated |
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Nominated | ||
Gold Derby TV Award | Best Actress in a Comedy Series | Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Nominated | |
Image Award | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series | Blair Underwood | Nominated | |
Satellite Award | Best Actress in a TV Series - Comedy or Musical | Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Nominated | |
Young Artist Award | Best Performance by a Young Actor in a TV Series | Trevor Gagnon | Nominated | |
2009 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Art Direction for a Multi-Camera Series | Cabot McMullen, Amy Feldman | Nominated |
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Nominated | ||
GLAAD Media Award | Outstanding Individual Episode | Won | ||
Gold Derby TV Award | Best Actress in a Comedy Series | Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Nominated | |
Image Award | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series | Blair Underwood | Nominated | |
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Wanda Sykes | Nominated | ||
2010 | Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series | Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Nominated |
Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Nominated | |
Outstanding Art Direction For A Multi-Camera Series | Cabot McMullen, Amy Feldman | Nominated |
DVD Name | Episodes | Release dates | ||
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Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | ||
The Complete First Season | 13 | January 15, 2008 | July 23, 2008 | July 23, 2008 |
The Complete Second Season | 22 | June 24, 2008 | TBA | TBA |
The Complete Third Season | 10 | July 27, 2010 [11] | TBA | TBA |
The Complete Fourth Season | 22 | December 7, 2010[12] | TBA | TBA |
The Complete Fifth Season | 21 | TBA | TBA | TBA |
During the Warner Television and Animation Live Chat on April 5, 2010, executives from Warner Brothers said that they are "evaluating different options for release" regarding the remaining and possibly future seasons of Old Christine on DVD.[13] In July 2010, Warner Bros. announced that season 3 would be available on DVD exclusively from wbshop.com and shop.tnt.tv. Season 4 will be released exclusively from wbshop.com on December 7, 2010. In August 2011, Warner Archive said on Twitter that a season 5 DVD will happen but no date has been set yet.