Emily's Reasons Why Not [TV Series] (2006)

Heather Graham starred in this ABC sitcom as Emily Sanders, a successful young businesswoman engaged in the business of publishing self-help books. In order to keep her friends, her values, and her head on straight, Emily rigidly adhered to her own inner set of "Reasons" why to do certain things, and why not to do certain others (for example, she maintained five reasons why or why not to date a guy). Alas, our heroine's self-imposed guidelines flew out the window when she fell in love with a philandering author, forcing her to do some serious mental retrenching to get herself back on track. Helping Emily get back on her emotional feet were her cynical best female friend Reilly (Nadia Dajani) and her gay best male friend/severest critic Josh (Khary Payton). Created by former TV publicist Carrie Gerlach, Emily's Reasons Why Not was dismissed by several critics as a PG-rated Sex and the City (complete with voiceover narration), with undertones of Ally McBeal, notably in the characterization of Emily's former assistant and bête-noire Glitter Cho (Smith Cho), a bitch-on-wheels whose entrances were accompanied by the musical theme from Jaws (similar to the Wicked Witch of the West music heard whenever Ally McBeal's Lucy Liu stormed into view). After innumerable production-personnel changes, Emily's Reasons Why Not premiered January 9, 2006, as a companion piece to ABC's recently revitalized Jake in Progress. Although six episodes were filmed before the debut date, Emily's Reasons Why Not was cancelled after only one telecast, having been pummeled in the ratings by rival series Two and a Half Men. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi