Reasons Why "Emily's Reasons Why Not" Misses The Mark

It's pretty hard to go wrong with a sitcom starring Heather Graham. After all, if the jokes fall flat, she's still standing there. And yet, why is it that a gorgeous movie star can come in and do her job, but 29 minutes later the show doesn't make your TiVo list?
Probably because you're savvy enough to know that hot is one thing, funny is another.
Actually, "Emily's Reasons Why Not" does have its funny moments. The problem is twofold. The show tweaks and contorts itself so hard to get those laughs that the whole thing feels forced and unmanageable for two consecutive episodes, much less a season. And secondly, the premise is unlikely to hold up for any length of time.
Derived from the novel by Carrie Gerlach, the idea that Graham is going to list reasons why some guy won't work for her each week seems trite and labor-intensive. Sitcoms usually work when the characters drive the show, not some gimmick.
Give Graham credit, though. Her foray into episodic television is a good one for her personally. She's likable by both sexes and has proved adept at comedy. She's joined by real-life friend and actress Nadia Dajani, who plays her best friend, Reilly. Both Graham and Dajani have that comfortable ease of true friends, but the whole fake set-up of "Emily" just lets them down. As natural as they are, this is a comedy that feels manipulative and trite.
If the writing improves and the storylines get fleshed out, the series may stand a chance at improvement. At this point, "Emily's Reasons Why Not" is just the latest in a long line of "Sex and the City" knockoffs, though this one makes Graham the Carrie Bradshaw character without any real attempt to push the storylines onto anyone else. Can't fault them entirely for that. You've got Heather Graham -- might as well use her.
Her friends are rounded out by Josh (Khary Payton), the requisite gay sidekick, and Glitter Cho (Smith Cho), who's more a nemesis than friend. The Cho character has real potential -- in fact, all of them do, but there's that pesky premise to uphold. By gearing the jokes around "reasons why not" -- and illustrating them with cheesy numerical graphics -- this is a series more comfortable with shtick than genuine characters.
Following "Emily" tonight is another sitcom, "Jake In Progress," that came and went so fast last season that you may have missed it. Lucky you. Starring John Stamos as a randy publicist to the stars, this rote and lifeless sitcom proves in the first episode of its sophomore season exactly why it should have been killed last year: Because -- you guessed it -- the jokes are sophomoric.
Why ABC thought this witless, poorly written "comedy" merited a return to the schedule is mystifying. That is until you realize that ABC doesn't really have any good sitcoms, so it's unsure of what to look for. That said, "Jake In Progress" is so lousy it makes "Emily's Reasons Why Not" seem like a sure thing.
from SF Gate