Style & Substance

Style & Substance
Starring Jean Smart
Nancy McKeon
Heath Hyche
Linda Kash
Joseph Maher
Alan Autry
Country of origin  United States
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 13 (1 unaired)
Production
Executive producer(s) Peter Tolan
Running time 30 min.
Broadcast
Original channel CBS
Original run January 5, 1998 – September 2, 1998

Style & Substance was a television situation comedy that premiered on CBS July 22, 1998.

The show starred Jean Smart as Chelsea Stevens, a Martha Stewart-like star of a how-to home show, and Nancy McKeon as her producer, Jane Sokol, a small-town girl new to New York City. Chelsea Stevens was an expert cook, decorator, and party planner who knew much more about thread-count than she did relationships. She was well-meaning at times, but her narcissism usually got in the way of actually understanding anyone else's problems.

Jean Smart's official website describes Stevens as a "neurotic control freak" and a "one-woman cooking, decorating, and entertaining machine who thinks every crisis can be solved by a decorative centerpiece".

It was rumored that Martha Stewart had complained to CBS about the similarities between her and the Chelsea Stevens character, even though on more than one episode Chelsea was referred to as Stewart's rival. Whether Stewart's complaint was true or not, the network cancelled the show after airing only a dozen episodes.

CBS tried another show similar in content in 1998. This show, "The Simple Life", starring Judith Light as a lifestyle expert did not fare any better.

Cast

External links