The new TV season is rapidly landing upon us and as reported in the London Comedy Writers Newsletter the hot new theme for this year is the comedy gold topic of divorce. First horse out is soft comedy Happily Divorced from the throwback channel TV Land.
Happily Divorced
So here is the premise, Fran is happily married until late one night Peter, her husband of 18 years, confesses that he is gay. Rather than dwelling on the crisis of a man dealing with his newly found sexuality it becomes a “comedy” about a couple divorcing – except the economic crisis means they can’t afford to physically separate and he moves into the den. We pick up 6 months later where Fran is now a fully fledged fag hag, he now a stereotypical metrosexual with a gym membership, shaven chest and regular at sing along a Sound of Music. The horribly stereotypical Mexican delicvery boy still hangs around doing his best to be as offensive as possible, (on side note check out this video about a similar role in Seinfeld) and in an effort tick every box we have Fran’s best friend a black woman with attitude. Anyway Fran starts dating again and goes to fancy restaurant where a stuck up French waiter ruins the night when he has an allergic reaction to as a truffle. But alls well that ends well and they make up. Peteris fine with his ex-wife dating and she finds a real man (he rides a motorbike and wears a leather jacket – he is basically an ageing Fonze.)
Shockingly filled with sterotypes, I was quite surprised to learn that the series is based on co-creators Fran Drescher and Peter Marc Jacobson, who had been high school sweethearts and then married in 1978. They divorced in 1999. Jacobson later came out as gay to Drescher and the two remained friends. Sadly this in no way translates to the screen, a series of poor one-liners, leads to a show that is predictable and forgettable. With 10 episodes order I would not be surprised to see it end there.
Created / Written by: Fran Drescher, Peter Marc Jacobson
Directed by: Lee Shallat Chemel
Starring: Fran Drescher, John Michael Higgins, Tichina Arnold, Rita Moreno, Valente Rodriguez, Robert Walden
Date premièred: 15th June 2011 (TV Land)
UK Details: TBC
, when the series was cancelled in 1992 the stars struggled to find other memorable roles and then over the past couple of years three of them gave up completely and shuffled off this mortal coil. Betty White however has fast became a Facebook sensation when a group asking for her to host 
picked up over half a million fans. At 88 she was the oldest person to host the iconic show and gained the highest in ratings in two years. Hot in Cleveland sees her return to sitcom, although only intended to be in the pilot the producers were so pleased with her performance she is to become a series regular.
