"BACK TO YOU: Season One"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: *** (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5 stars) STARRING Kelsey Grammer as CHUCK DARLING Patricia Heaton as KELLY CARR Josh Gad as RYAN CHURCH Ty Burrell as GARY CREZYZEWSKI Fred Willard as MARSH MCGINLEY Ayda Field as MONTANA DIAZ HERRERA Not Rated Studio: 20th Century Fox Created by: Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd Back to DVD Review Home |  |
There were many casualties of the SAG strike, which started a year ago. Some were pretty high profile, like the ambiguous seventh season of “24.” Other casualties were less well known. “Back to You,” the “new” show with sit-com veterans Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, was one of them.
“Back to You” was considered a similar show to “Till Death” because they both starred “Everybody Loves Raymond” alumni, and they faced off against each other on the prime time schedule. And while “Back to You” had some momentum early in its run, the strike killed its forward movement, and the show was canceled before it could gain another foothold.
And that’s a shame because the show definitely had some promise.
The entire series is available on DVD, although it is billed simply as Season 1. With both Grammer and Heaton starting new shows, everyone’s pretty sure it’s dead in the water.
But for what it was worth, it was an enjoyable show. The story followed Chuck Darling (Grammer), a newscaster who left Pittsburgh almost a decade ago for a bigger and better job in L.A. After an obscene on-air tirade, he’s fired and comes back to Pittsburgh. There, he must deal with his co-anchor Kelly Carr (Heaton), who resents being in his shadow.
The colorful characters at the station make things funny. But what makes things even more troublesome for Chuck is the fact that he soon learns that Kelly had his child soon after he left Pittsburgh. Chuck tries to maintain focus at work while adjusting into the role as a new dad to an eight year old child.
The first connection I had with this show is the name of the main character. My sister’s name is Kelly Carr, and I first heard about “Back to You” from murmurs in the family about the name of the character on the show. Call me crazy, but I giggled every time they called her by name, or it showed up as a title on-screen.
But aside from my arbitrary connection to a name, I most enjoyed the supporting cast. Grammer and Heaton are okay, but they’re trying to carry heavier subplots. Josh Gad is hilarious as the young but stressed-out program director. Ty Burrell puts his physical comedy skills to great use as the abused roving reporter. Ayda Field is fun to look at as the ditzy, sexy weather girl who can’t pronounce “Monongahela.” And Fred Willard is his perfect goofy self as the aloof sportscaster.
Aside from the SAG strike, there were some problems with the show’s start. It’s not uncommon for the network to diddle with a series before it moves out of its first season. However, they lose Ayda Field but show her departure arc out of order. Similarly, the actress playing the daughter is suddenly swapped for another (and less appropriate one), and declared to be a year younger.
Still, “Back to You” is an enjoyable show and not a waste of its short 367 minutes on the air.
The DVD comes with a gag reel and two featurettes about the production of the show, including some bittersweet commentary on how the writer’s strike impacted the show.
