Christina Applegate has been MIA from TV since her attempt at a 1998 sitcom, playing a single mom with a hot Spanish neighbor in Jesse. In fact, the last time she was successful on television was when she played Kelly Bundy on Married With Children. In an attempt to not go down in entertainment history as a sexy, brain dead, white trash character from the 90s, she has revived her TV career in this new sitcom that bears an uncanny resemblance to my favorite Goldie Hawn movie, Overboard. Hawn played a bitchy socialite who treats all her help like shit, including her contractor played by Kurt Russell. When she falls overboard--hence the name--from her yacht, he saves her and takes her to the hospital. She wakes up with amnesia, and since he's the only one there to claim her, he pretends she's his wife and turns her into his own personal maid slash baby sitter. Payback's a bitch.
In Applegate's loose translation of the film, her character Samantha is a victim of a hit and run. When she wakes up from an 8-day comma, she soon wishes that she hadn't. At her bedside are her parents, Howard (Kevin Dunn from Transformers), her backboneless father, and Regina (Jean Smart from 24), her negligent mother. The woman ordered her to redo her awakening so she can get it on tape for "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," because her house is due for a renovation. She sounds like mother of the year. It's no wonder Samantha has no idea who the woman is. The doctor soon informs her that she has retrograde amnesia. For some reason knowing this causes her mother to speak louder, as though she were informed her daughter was deaf.
Once Samantha is released from the hospital, she has the choice to either go home with her crazy parents or with her boyfriend, Todd (Barry Watson from "What About Brian?"). Oddly, he doesn't seem all that excited to see her or heartbroken that she'd forgotten him. Then we're introduced (and she's reintroduced) to her flashy, high-class bff, Andrea (Jennifer Esposito from "Related"), who--admitting that she didn't bother to visit her in the hospital because she was sooo busy--that Sam hadn't spoken to her parents in 2 years. You slowly start to get the idea that she's not exactly every parent's dream. In fact, when she yells to her mother, “You made me who I am,” Regina replies, “That is a terrible thing to say.”
This leads her to moving in with her estranged boyfriend, who is none to excited about sharing his apartment with her. However, she sees this as an opportunity to grill him for facts. And in Overboard-fashion, he tells her that she loves to cook for him and watch sports with him. Clearly she senses that he could be lying. At least the amnesia didn't take her sense of humor. It did, however, take her sense of provocativeness, since she tends to cover up when she's wearing a sexy dress and is suddenly appalled that she would have a married lover on the side. Again, you start to imagine that Samantha wasn't the nice person she woke up as. But that idea is officially solidified when a woman, in dire need of her coat, continuously interrupts the panic attack Samantha's directing towards Andrea in the coat check area and she snaps: “I know you’re in a hurry to get to work, but trust me, your street corner is still going to be there.”
There could still be hope for Samantha though. Even though Dena (Melissa McCarthy from "Gilmore Girls"), a childhood acquaintance, heard about her accident and decided to trick her into being her bff, Samantha didn't blow her off. In fact, she blew her lover off instead and came clean with her boyfriend. Unfortunately, that gave him the opportunity to break up with her...again. Apparently, he had done so right before her accident and he was dieing to get rid of her. Even his friends wanted her gone, noted by the voice mail message she overheard where they vowed to find the guy who ran her over and buy him a drink. Once he confessed, she had her first memory (which I sense will be a trend--one memory per episode) of when they met. Getting dumped leaves her with very few options with places to stay. Andrea is not an option. She's such a horrible friend that she didn't even tell her that she had been sober for 30 days, handing her drink after drink that night. Dena is still technically a stranger. But before Samantha resolves to move back in with her parents, she actually feels the need to ask her mom if she was the one who ran her over. Jean Smart is a joy to watch. She makes Kitty from That 70's Show seem sane. Accepting her into her home, she tells Samantha to go to her room: "You know where it is." Exasperated, Samantha says, “No, I don’t,” only to be met with the playful response, “Oh come on, just guess. It’ll be fun.” That's basically the premise of the sitcom: amnesia is fun.
In the middle of the show, Samantha says that there a few good things about having amnesia: all your clothes are technically new and there are no reruns since you have no idea that Ross is Rachel's lobster. So, what are the good things about this show? Every week should have an astonishing revelation about what kind of person Samantha used to be and maybe, if she's lucky, she'll be able to redeem herself enough to resnag her ex. Since it shares the time slot with "Rules of Engagement," "Heroes," and "K-Ville," it has some tough competition. It needs to go to a dead night like Tuesday or Friday or even Sunday, otherwise we'll forget about it completely.
In Applegate's loose translation of the film, her character Samantha is a victim of a hit and run. When she wakes up from an 8-day comma, she soon wishes that she hadn't. At her bedside are her parents, Howard (Kevin Dunn from Transformers), her backboneless father, and Regina (Jean Smart from 24), her negligent mother. The woman ordered her to redo her awakening so she can get it on tape for "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," because her house is due for a renovation. She sounds like mother of the year. It's no wonder Samantha has no idea who the woman is. The doctor soon informs her that she has retrograde amnesia. For some reason knowing this causes her mother to speak louder, as though she were informed her daughter was deaf.
Once Samantha is released from the hospital, she has the choice to either go home with her crazy parents or with her boyfriend, Todd (Barry Watson from "What About Brian?"). Oddly, he doesn't seem all that excited to see her or heartbroken that she'd forgotten him. Then we're introduced (and she's reintroduced) to her flashy, high-class bff, Andrea (Jennifer Esposito from "Related"), who--admitting that she didn't bother to visit her in the hospital because she was sooo busy--that Sam hadn't spoken to her parents in 2 years. You slowly start to get the idea that she's not exactly every parent's dream. In fact, when she yells to her mother, “You made me who I am,” Regina replies, “That is a terrible thing to say.”
This leads her to moving in with her estranged boyfriend, who is none to excited about sharing his apartment with her. However, she sees this as an opportunity to grill him for facts. And in Overboard-fashion, he tells her that she loves to cook for him and watch sports with him. Clearly she senses that he could be lying. At least the amnesia didn't take her sense of humor. It did, however, take her sense of provocativeness, since she tends to cover up when she's wearing a sexy dress and is suddenly appalled that she would have a married lover on the side. Again, you start to imagine that Samantha wasn't the nice person she woke up as. But that idea is officially solidified when a woman, in dire need of her coat, continuously interrupts the panic attack Samantha's directing towards Andrea in the coat check area and she snaps: “I know you’re in a hurry to get to work, but trust me, your street corner is still going to be there.”
There could still be hope for Samantha though. Even though Dena (Melissa McCarthy from "Gilmore Girls"), a childhood acquaintance, heard about her accident and decided to trick her into being her bff, Samantha didn't blow her off. In fact, she blew her lover off instead and came clean with her boyfriend. Unfortunately, that gave him the opportunity to break up with her...again. Apparently, he had done so right before her accident and he was dieing to get rid of her. Even his friends wanted her gone, noted by the voice mail message she overheard where they vowed to find the guy who ran her over and buy him a drink. Once he confessed, she had her first memory (which I sense will be a trend--one memory per episode) of when they met. Getting dumped leaves her with very few options with places to stay. Andrea is not an option. She's such a horrible friend that she didn't even tell her that she had been sober for 30 days, handing her drink after drink that night. Dena is still technically a stranger. But before Samantha resolves to move back in with her parents, she actually feels the need to ask her mom if she was the one who ran her over. Jean Smart is a joy to watch. She makes Kitty from That 70's Show seem sane. Accepting her into her home, she tells Samantha to go to her room: "You know where it is." Exasperated, Samantha says, “No, I don’t,” only to be met with the playful response, “Oh come on, just guess. It’ll be fun.” That's basically the premise of the sitcom: amnesia is fun.
In the middle of the show, Samantha says that there a few good things about having amnesia: all your clothes are technically new and there are no reruns since you have no idea that Ross is Rachel's lobster. So, what are the good things about this show? Every week should have an astonishing revelation about what kind of person Samantha used to be and maybe, if she's lucky, she'll be able to redeem herself enough to resnag her ex. Since it shares the time slot with "Rules of Engagement," "Heroes," and "K-Ville," it has some tough competition. It needs to go to a dead night like Tuesday or Friday or even Sunday, otherwise we'll forget about it completely.
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