The New Adventures of Old Christine [TV Series] (2006)

When CBS greenlighted the half-hour sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine, it was with the fervent hope that series star Julia Louis-Dreyfus would be the one to break the "Seinfeld" curse that had doomed the actress' Seinfeld colleagues to an embarrassing plethora of DOA TV-series projects. Louis-Dreyfus was cast as Christine, a divorced mother and the owner of Thirty Minutes to Bloom, a quick-turnover workout gym designed for busy professional women. Although Christine enjoyed a friendly relationship with her ex-husband, Richard (Clark Gregg), this status quo was in danger of going south in a hurry when Richard began dating a much-younger woman (Emily Rutherfurd), also named Christine (hence the series' title). Meanwhile, the "old" Christine was carrying on a war of nerves with Marly (Tricia O'Kelley) and Lindsay (Alex Kapp Horner), the pretentious and snobbish room parents at the expensive private school where Christine's son, Ritchie (Trevor Gagnon), was enrolled. Also featured was Hamish Linklater as the series' intended "breakout" character, Christine's slacker brother, Matthew. Created by Kari Lizer, The New Adventures of Old Christine debuted March 13, 2006, with two separate episodes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi