Watching Ellie

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Watching Ellie
Created by Brad Hall
Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Steve Carell
Don Lake
Lauren Bowles
Peter Stormare
Darren Boyd
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 19 (3 unaired)
Production
Camera setup Single (Season 1)
Multiple (Season 2)
Running time 30 minutes
Production company(s) Hammond's Reef
NBC Studios
Release
Original network NBC
Original release February 26, 2002 (2002-02-26) –
May 20, 2003 (2003-05-20)

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 canceled due to low ratings.

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. Thirteen episodes were filmed but only ten aired before the series was put on indefinite hiatus (the remaining first-season episodes have never aired). During its use, the clock had the unfortunate effect of reminding the audience that a half-hour situation comedy only contained twenty-two minutes of content.

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). This version fared even worse than its predecessor and was canceled after six episodes.

The show also cast Lauren Bowles as Ellie's sister Susan. In real life, Bowles is Louis-Dreyfus' half-sister (they have the same mother).

Production

Louis-Dreyfus and Hall earned salaries of $350,000 each per episode and their contracts stipulated a 15 episodes-per-season, rather than the usual 22. Carsey-Werner-Mandabach Productions, the original production company, dropped out because of the high costs, and was replaced by NBC Studios.[1]

The show was pitched to ABC, CBS, Fox and HBO, who all turned down the series.[2]

Cast

Ratings

Season Timeslot (EST) Premiere Finale TV season Rank Viewers
(in millions)
1 Tuesday 9:30 P.M. (February 26, 2002 – April 23, 2002) February 26, 2002 April 23, 2002 2002 #55 10.0
2 Tuesday 9:30 P.M. (April 15, 2003 – May 20, 2003) April 15, 2003 May 20, 2003 2003 #79 8.6

Season 1

  • Episode 1: Pilot (2/26/02) – Viewers: 16.7 million
  • Episode 2: Wedding (3/05/02) – Viewers: 12.5 million
  • Episode 3: Dinner Party (3/12/02) – Viewers: 11.1 million
  • Episode 4: Aftershockes (3/19/02) – Viewers: 9.5 million
  • Episode 5: Cheetos (3/26/02) – Viewers: 9.7 million
  • Episode 6: Tango (4/02/02) – Viewers: 9.6 million
  • Episode 7: Gift (4/02/02) – Viewers: 10.4 million
  • Episode 8: Medicated (4/09/02) – Viewers: 7.6 million
  • Episode 9: Weekend (4/16/02) – Viewers: 8.0 million
  • Episode 10: Zimmerman (4/23/02) – Viewers: 6.9 million

Season 2

  • Episode 1: Shrink (4/15/03) – Viewers: 9.8 million
  • Episode 2: TV (4/22/03) – Viewers: 7.4 million
  • Episode 3: Date (4/29/03) – Viewers: 8.7 million
  • Episode 4: Buskers (5/06/03) – Viewers: 8.3 million
  • Episode 5: Fruit Shots (5/13/03) – Viewers: 7.5 million
  • Episode 6: Feud (5/20/03) – Viewers: 8.4 million

References

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  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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