Surprise! Welcome to a bonus Sitcom Tuesday, on a Wednesday! Once again, I’m continuing my coverage of The New Adventures Of Old Christine (2006-2010, CBS). Check out the series here.

The New Adventures Of Old Christine stars JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS as Old Christine, CLARK GREGG as Richard, HAMISH LINKLATER as Matthew, EMILY RUTHERFURD as New Christine, TREVOR GAGNON as Ritchie, and WANDA SYKES as Barb. With TRICIA O’KELLEY and ALEX KAPP HORNER as the Meanie Moms.

Ordered as a mid-season replacement and then cut from 13 episodes to 10 amid the 2007 WGA Strike, Old Christine’s third season is the shortest of its entire run. By now, the central character has been broadened out a lot from her premised origins, so much so that she’s often just generically chaotic, sometimes even veering into the self-serving and less nice territory reminiscent of its star’s other roles; and as we’ve seen, this has weakened the show’s ability to utilize Christine in situation-satisfying plots. Three is a further slide, but not as aggressively as we saw in Two itself, as the year instead offers stories that, though increasingly bigger and maybe trite, still seek some entrenchment within the situation… and more frequently than before, from parts we would define as lower concept. That is, as the series continues to do more with the ensemble’s funniest players, Matthew and Barb, it also moves away from its high-concept wrinkle — the implied triangle, with Old Christine in direct opposition to New Christine — thereby allowing the two women and Richard to develop comedically outside of this constraining one-joke construct, which has only yielded rom-com clichés… Speaking of which, aside from two blah episodes extricating Christine from last year’s Mr. Harris, Three also takes on a new focus in the low-concept dating portion of its situation, zeroing in on the difficulties Christine faces not just as a divorced mom, but as one who’s middle-aged. That’s always been an aspect of her character, yet it’s heretofore been less emphasized — playing to how she, as “Old Christine,” exists beyond merely her younger counterpart, but in the world at large. Although it’s still not the most original (we’ve seen women over 40 dating before), it’s an attribute of her depiction that can open up new scenarios for her to be socially embarrassed — which, of course, is the best way to explore the premised implications of Christine’s well-intentioned character while also showcasing the comedic chops of star Julia Louis-Dreyfus. And in the absence of many school-set stories (where Christine is most poised to be indignantly humiliated in more specifically and freshly premise-validating setups), these are better than nothing, especially when they remain quite funny. So, this is a brief but solid year for the show, which remains one of the most enjoyable multi-cams from the 2007-2008 season.

 

01) Episode 38: “Popular” (Aired: 02/18/08)

Christine tries to stop a new divorced dad at the school from befriending the Meanie Moms.

Written by Jennifer Crittenden | Directed by Andy Ackerman

Boasting a story where Christine bonds with a new divorced dad (Tom Papa) who’s also as much of a mess as she is, this installment inherently resides within the most comedically fruitful part of the situation — at school, where the title character is most poised to be embarrassed because of her differences, and free from the trite rom-com or triangle trappings that limit individuality and indulge clichés. However, this isn’t a typical entry in this now-rare subcategory, for the plot isn’t about Christine being uncomfortable — it’s about her trying to keep someone else in her discomfort by preventing him from joining her enemies. That’s an interesting way to let her become self-obsessed and even vindictive, without it feeling too extreme or unmotivated. That is, it’s earned based on what we know. And when the script opens up the possibility that maybe she excludes herself and is disliked by the others due to her own moral superiority, there’s a fresh, thoughtful exploration of Christine that’s predicated on what’s structurally established and allows for a one-off turnaround, as she decides to consciously befriend the Meanie Moms — a reversal that perfectly plays to the premise. So, although this isn’t as uproarious as most of the centerpiece-rich Three, it’s a credit to this season that the series is still able, on occasion, to offer the kind of elemental situation comedy that Old Christine’s character deserves.

02) Episode 41: “The New Adventures Of Old Christine” (Aired: 03/10/08)

Christine gets fixed up by New Christine with a younger man.

Written by Frank Pines | Directed by Andy Ackerman

It’s unusual to see an outing other than the pilot (or finale) have the same title as the series itself, but it’s intentional here, as there’s supposed to be a special emphasis on the word Old, which refers to the comedic thrust of the half hour — a scene where Christine discovers that the young man (Ben Feldman) she’s gone home with is actually still in college. That’s an outrageously embarrassing scenario, especially when they’re caught by his mom (Gigi Rice), and although it’s again nothing we haven’t seen before — a woman dating a guy who happens to be far too young — it plays into this newly emphasized aspect of the premise, focusing not just on the central character’s terrible romantic prospects, but her terrible romantic prospects as exacerbated by the fact that she’s middle-aged and getting older. Again, it’s not totally unique, but it accentuates her in this construct, sparking several ideal set pieces where Christine is uncomfortable, supported by a known attribute of her characterization.

03) Episode 43: “Burning Down The House” (Aired: 03/17/08)

Christine intends to smoke some marijuana and get high with Barb.

Written by Aaron Shure | Directed by Andy Ackerman

Once again, there’s nothing here narratively that you couldn’t find on any other sitcom, but I appreciate that this story is motivated by Christine’s desire to prove to her friend Barb that she’s willing to step out of her comfort zone and take risks, specifically by following through on the things she says she’ll do — finish what she starts. That’s an interesting observation with suggested flaws about her character that lets her be somewhat scattered and incompetent per the show’s increasingly broadened comic needs, without being a total, credulity-undermining nincompoop — and it isn’t too much of a stretch from how she was defined in Season One, only now with some additional insight that maybe resembles nuance. Oh, I’m not crazy about the tryst between Barb and Matthew at the end — that’s clichéd rom-com fodder that doesn’t yield anything great — but I like the return of Dave Foley’s Tom and the big laughs he helps bring, furthering a focus on Christine’s character that renders this easily one of the year’s best.

04) Episode 45: “One And A Half Men” (Aired: 03/31/08)

Christine takes hormones for perimenopause.

Teleplay by Lew Schneider | Story by Allan Rice & Amy Iglow | Directed by Andy Ackerman

My choice for this brief season’s Most Valuable Episode (MVE), “One And A Half Men” is simply the half hour that I’ll most remember from this collection — with an inherently amusing story that’s entirely a showcase for Julia Louis-Dreyfus and this specific year’s take on the premise, namely a special focus on Christine’s foibles as a middle-aged woman. Here, as she enters perimenopause and finds herself incredibly uncomfortable — in a physical sense — she uses some of Barb’s testosterone cream and starts acting more like, well, a man. This is humorously played in an appropriate centerpiece at Ritchie’s cotillion where Christine, ever the mama bear, stands up to the Meanie Moms with threats of violence. It’s a taste of the vindictive aggression more associated with Elaine — whose harsher, unpleasant qualities make for a noted shift away from Christine’s initial (and initially premised) do-gooder ambitions — but it’s at least motivated by the one-off narrative, where we’re supposed to view her behavior as atypical. In that regard, this reinforces the status quo by consciously playing against it — a unique and fresh application of her character and the premise (because she would otherwise feel insecure and be embarrassed at such an event) that allows the show to have its cake and eat it too, enabling a looser depiction but within the context of the situation as intended. Also, Jason Alexander — Louis-Dreyfus’ former Seinfeld pal — guests as her gynecologist. He’s a bit of stunt casting that would have been beneath the series in 2006 but nevertheless does help this installment stand out from the crowd as one of its most memorable — a tribute to its star, whose excellence broke the “Seinfeld curse” and elevated this basically mediocre sitcom well beyond its text.

 

Other episodes that merit a look include: “Between A Rock And A Hard Place,” which has a memorable physical centerpiece that shows off Julia Louis-Dreyfus and in accordance with this year’s broader comic ethos — not to mention a story that emphasizes the growing codependency between Christine and Matthew — but is simply a little less motivated and emotionally believable than the others above, along with “The Happy Couple,” which centralizes Barb and Matthew, but in a gimmicky plot that veers Christine too much into her selfish, self-obsessed leanings, and “Beauty Is Only Spanx Deep,” where Andy Richter’s Sad Dad returns and Christine’s age is another seminal part of the narrative. I’ll also use this space to note “House,” which takes — for this era — an unusually literal understanding of the premise, as Christine is jealous over Richard and New Christine buying a house… an idea that posits them in direct competition and enables one of her more Elaine-like showings.

 

*** The MVE Award for the Best Episode from Season Three of The New Adventures Of Old Christine goes to…

“One And A Half Men”

 

 

Come back next week for Season Four! And stay tuned Monday for a musical rarity!