By Dean Robbins
‘Seinfeld’-ish
‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ arranges a reunion
Everybody dreams of a “Seinfeld” reunion, and this week we get one — sort of. “Seinfeld” writer/co-creator Larry David stars in his own “Seinfeld”-like show, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (Sunday, 8 p.m., HBO), and he brings on Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards and Jason Alexander as special guest stars. They play a version of themselves, just as David does, in a plot about a possible “Seinfeld” reunion.
David cooks up the scheme as a way to win back his ex-wife (Cheryl Hines), whom he plans to cast as George Costanza’s ex-wife in the reunion special.
I wish I could say the reunion was a masterpiece. It’s more of an amusing curio — kind of like a middling episode of “Seinfeld” with one extra lead character. I’ll take it, though, and would happily keep watching if Seinfeld and crew decide to make these reunions a weekly habit. CV
‘Flash Forward’
Thursday, 7 p.m. (ABC)
Every new TV season needs a solemn sci-fi head-scratcher, on the order of “Heroes,” “Lost” or “Jericho.” This year’s version, involves people around the world blacking out for two minutes at the same time. They all have a vision of themselves at the same point in the future, about six months down the road.
“Flash Forward” has an interesting premise, but so far it’s not a whole lot of fun to watch. The characters are all tense and bummed-out — not exactly great company for 60 minutes.
I just had a vision of the 2010-11 TV season, and this series was no longer on ABC’s schedule. CV
‘Accidentally on Purpose’
Monday, 7:30 p.m. (CBS)
This new sitcom steals its premise from “Knocked Up” — A hot blond media professional (Jenna Elfman) is impregnated by a slovenly young slacker (Jon Foster) on their first date, then decides to have the baby. It’s Elfman’s latest TV vehicle, and once again she drives it into a ditch. Sensing that she needs help, the script tries to get our attention with porn jokes, nipple jokes, bulimia jokes, drug jokes and booze jokes — a queasy complement to Elfman’s cutesiness.
Then there are the punchlines — “I’ve made a horrible mistake!” Elfman cries.
“Technically, you’ve made a series of horrible mistakes!” her friend responds.
So have the executives who repeatedly trust Elfman to carry a TV show. CV
