Should You Watch: The Return of Jezebel James

How funny does this phrase sound: Asherman's Syndrome?

Sounds like a real riot, doesn't it? Anything with the word "syndrome" in it is sure to bring down the mood a bit, and yet the new Fox sitcom "The Return of Jezebel James" uses it prominently as one of its core premises. Star Parker Posey is a book editor who can't conceive a child because, well, she has something called Asherman's Syndrome.

This is a device to get Posey to reunite with her prodigal sister, the one whose lifestyle she has always disapproved, and ohbytheway ask her to carry her child for her. It's a contrived premise, and the fact that the sister (Lauren Ambrose) decides in the span of minutes in the premiere episode doesn't make it any more convincing.

Or funny, for that matter. You see, while you might not expect the phrase "Asherman's Syndrome" to be conducive to laughter, you COULD reasonably expect the presence of show creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, late of "Gilmore Girls" to gaurantee some laughs. Unfortunaely, the two episodes I endured, er, watched with my wife were almost totally laugh-free. In this day of 21-22 minute "half-hour" programs on network TV, it's a really bad sign when one drags like this one.

Posey's sharp-witted, intelligent screen persona might seem a natural fit for the trademark snappy repartee from the creative force behind Lorelai and Rory Gilmore's banter, but "Jezebel James" offers nothing at all like that. I don't know for sure if it's the weakness of the scripts, Posey being a tad too shrill and nervy to carry a sitcom, or a combination, but it all comes off flat in this series.

The dialogue is often as contrived as the plot. For example, when Posey's sister walks into her office for the first time ever, Posey's assistant admires her and unrealistically says, "I want her to have my baby," merely so that Posey can reply with something like, "You'll have to wait in line."

So why SHOULD one watch this program? Well, you should watch "The Return of Jezebel James" if...


*You are nostalgic for the 1990s, when Parker Posey was in seemingly every other indie film released in more than a dozen theaters.
*You're still in denial about "Gilmore Girls" being off the air.
*You're still in denial about the creator of "Gilmore Girls" being off the show.
*You have a rigid policy of supporting comedy programs with laugh tracks. (The show looked and felt like it could, maybe should be sans laugh track, and when it sported one, I have to admit, I was thrown off)
*You're a huge fan of Peter Sarsgaard and always hoped he'd do series TV. He still doesn't, and he's not in this show, but the guy they have playing Posey's assistant sure looks and talks like him.