Author: Patrick Shanley

September 14, 2015 10:14pm PT by Patrick Shanley

 The CW

The CW premiered the pilot episode of its new musical comedy series, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, on Monday at the  Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills as part of the PaleyFest Fall TV Preview. 

The show, which was co-created by star Rachel Bloom and The Devil Wears Prada screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna, centers on the life of an unhappy young lawyer and decides, on a whim, to quit her job and move across the country from New York to West Covina, Calif., to follow the man of her dreams, a former summer camp love from high school.

Like its main character, the show traveled a long road to the screen. Originally picked up to pilot at Showtime, the premium cabler passed on the half-hour before sibling network The CW, in a surprise move, ordered it straight to series in May as a companion for critical darling Jane the Virgin.

“They’ve been so overwhelmingly wonderful,” Bloom told The Hollywood Reporter  of The CW. “They’re so supportive of what the show is. It was a little bumpy road getting here but now we’re on television so it can’t be that rocky, right?”

The switch from cable to broadcast meant a few changes to the show (such as the restrictions on language and nudity) but the biggest difference was its shift from 30-minute comedy to hourlong dramedy.

“The extra time is actually great for us,” McKenna said. “It allows us to do more emotional stories and get into our ensemble, and we have this fabulous ensemble.”

That “ensemble” features Broadway talent such as Tony-nominated actor Santino Fontana, who is perhaps best-known for voicing the role of Hans in Disney’s Frozen.

“I’m familiar with this world … kind of,” Fontana laughed. “I performed a number Friday that I learned Wednesday. That’s not normal. That never happens.”

The Showtime pilot episode was screened Monday and, like the show’s response earlier this summer at TCA, earned a warm reception from those in attendance, with McKenna quick to express her appreciation.

“We’ve been through a lot,” she told the theater, “and we’re just so glad the show is alive.”

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend premieres Monday, Oct. 12 on The CW.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Patrick Shanley

THRnews@thr.com

September 12, 2015 4:27pm PT by Patrick Shanley

ABC’s ‘Dr. Ken’  Danny Feld/ABC

The cast of the new ABC sitcom discussed the latest project from comedian Ken Jeong at the PaleyFest Fall TV Preview.

The Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills hosted the stars and creator of the new ABC comedy Dr. Ken on Saturday afternoon as part of their 2015 Paleyfest Fall TV Preview.

The sitcom, based on the life of Community star and real-life medical doctor Ken Jeong, marks the second ABC comedy to center on an Asian-American family, hot on the heels of last season’s breakout hit Fresh Off the Boat.  

“If it wasn’t for Fresh Off the Boat, we wouldn’t be here,” Jeong told a packed theater of fans and reporters during a panel following the screening of his show’s pilot episode. 

ABC has shown it has no fear of diversity when it comes to their primetime lineup. In addition to Fresh, Black-ish and Scandal have been enormous hits for the network. Dr. Ken hopes to share on that success, but its stars are quick to note that its comedy has a universal appeal.

“I promise there won’t be a goddamn dog joke in the f—ing show,” Jeong quipped. 

“Even though it’s starring an Asian family — and yes, there are some cultural things — it’s still just a family show,” veteran TV star Tisha Campbell-Martin, who plays Jeong’s receptionist on the show, told The Hollywood Reporter. “People can relate.”

Campbell-Martin isn’t the only familiar face in Dr. Ken‘s cast, as The Kids in the Hall‘s Dave Foley, who plays the HMO manager at Jeong’s clinic, and longtime TV star Suzy Nakamura (The Goldbergs, Go On) — who plays Jeong’s wife — also star. 

For Jeong — no stranger himself to making the most of a supporting role, as evidenced by The Hangover and the last six seasons of Community — it’s the first crack at leading man status. 

“It’s more than just more lines,” Jeong said on the carpet. “It was a lot easier just saying a few lines that were often the funniest in the episode.”

For Foley, who led the critically acclaimed series NewsRadio 20 years ago, letting Jeong do the heavy lifting was quite all right. “This is like semi-retirement,” he laughed. 

The cast fielded questions from fans during the panel, speaking candidly about ABC’s push for diversity in its programming and touching briefly on the importance of Margaret Cho‘s 1990’s series, All-American Girl, in breaking new ground for Asian-Americans on television. Cho will guest star as Jeong’s sister in the first season of Dr. Ken. 

Dr. Ken premieres Friday, Oct. 2 at 8:30 p.m. on ABC.

Dr. Ken

Patrick Shanley

THRnews@thr.com