Sure, Brothers & Sisters has a gay couple, and Gossip Girl gave Eric an adorable boyfriend. But another show — on CBS, of all places — has been steadily, skillfully pushing the envelope for some time now without making a fuss about its liberal leanings: The New Adventures of Old Christine. With gay rights at the center of more than one episode this season, the snappy comedy about a 40-something divorcée may be a sitcom for your mom, but it’s not your mother’s sitcom (if that makes any sense). Take last night’s storyline: Gym co-owners and BFF’s Christine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Barb (Wanda Sykes) — who got legally married earlier this season to keep Barb from being deported to Bermuda — faced a moral conundrum. They could either sign a contract with a pro-family (read: anti-gay) clause or risk getting the boot from their gym franchise’s conservative parent company. Christine and Barb eventually refuse to sign, losing their gym to stand up for the rights of gays.
The show — created by Will & Grace alum Kari Lizer — packed some great Prop 8-inspired jokes and gracefully used Christine’s own self-centered attitude to skewer people who say gay rights "aren’t my problem" (check out the bravura writing in the clip below). The episode made a lot of strong points — but most importantly, it was also just a flat-out funny show, a great reminder of how sitcoms can mix laughs and lessons without getting preachy.
Your turn PopWatchers. Is Old Christine the new Will & Grace? Should more shows be addressing Prop 8? And why wasn’t Julia Louis-Dreyfus nominated for a Golden Globe?
More on The New Adventures of Old Christine:
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This show — like Big Bang Theory — has found its legs and gets better and better. Julia Louis-Dreyfuss is hilarious when self-centres, or being humiliated (last season her 10 minute stammering response to the hot teacher saying “You shouldn’t let your son look in your night-stand” was ALL-TIME comedy classic.) But most importantly… WANDA SYKES CAN DO NO WRONG. Wanda is a stealth weapon. Love them.
One of the best scripted shows on television, and no actress on television does physical comedy–and comedy in general, for that matter—better than the great Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Yup. Another hilarious episode last night after last week’s classic Thanksgiving episode. This show deserves way more recognition. It was the funniest show on tv last season. The only fault I would give it is that they aren’t milking this “Christine and Barb are married” storyline more. They got married in the premiere and this is the first episode since that has really used that plot device.
Either way, it makes me laugh. And the Globes are ridiculous for not nominating JLD. Tina Fey said it best in her acceptance speech: all comedic actresses strive to be like JLD.
Not only was it making a point about Prop 8, it was making fun of the Curves “women’s gym” chain.
stopped watching cause, it not only pushed the envelope but it became gross, like the eps where her & bro in bed, & kissing??? No thanks!
Rach, there was only one episode where Christine and Matthew kissed, and it was a dream sequence because Christine couldn’t stand the idea of Matthew making out with Barb, whom Christine (then) considered to be like a sister to her. I personally LOVE the running jokes concerning the inappropriate Christine-Matthew relationship (which Matthew himself was forced to confront in the season 3 episode where he underwent therapy), and the fact that Matthew’s closest relationship is with his sister (his current girlfriend even resembles Christine, which they made blatantly clear a couple of episodes ago!) LOVED the latest episode by the way, and am thrilled that it’s getting some critical buzz!!
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I don’t watch this show much but I’m confused- how did marrying Barb keep her from getting deported? That’s a federal law, not a state law, so even if it’s legal in your state, you sill can be deported. I know, it’s just a tv show, but did the writers address this?
I love “Old Christine”, and I watch it every week. One of my favorite shows, and not just because they got my back!
I missed out on this show for a long time, but finally caught on. It’s not brilliant TV, but it’s certainly funny and entertaining. Julia Louis-Dreyfus deserved a nom…and win.
Love this show. It is 10x better than Will & Grace. Julia and Wanda are comedy gold. I agree with graeme…The Thanksgiving episode was brillant.
Dreyfus was the only truly funny actor on Seinfeld, after all.
I especially enjoyed watching Barb’s attitude since Wanda is gay herself.
This is one of my favorite shows. (Behind HIMYM and Big Bang though)
Uh, when did “Will & Grace” ever take on any serious subject, gay or otherwise?
This is definitely my favorite show on the air today (and the funniest)! I love that they try to push the envelop. They need to to get articles like this out there to get them a little publicity… since CBS won’t do it for them. I agree that Julia should have at least been nominated. She always deserves to be nominated, and she definitely deserves to win! Best comedic actress of the past 2 decades, without a doubt!