NBC, Tues. 8:30-9pm
Producers of "Encore! Encore!" had this to say: "We didn't think America wanted to watch a show about opera, so we made him (Nathan Lane) a character who loses his voice." Turns out, America didn't want to watch that either.
This show lasted only about 6 episodes. TV Guide reserved its judgment, but I went out on a limb during the beginning of the 1998-99 Fall Season, proclaiming this show would last three seasons at least. It almost didn't last three episodes.
The premise was weak, but different. An opera singer's career is cut short when he loses his voice, so he decides to move in with his mother who runs the Napa Valley winery. I remember the first couple of shows were funny and there were some interesting supporting characters. Most people disagreed with me, however, finding Nathan Lane's character too obnoxious, but I thought he had that "Frasier" quality about him: pretentious, yet somehow endearing. In fact, this show was produced by the same team behind "Frasier"--a favorite of mine.
I'd never have let this one slip into the TV Graveyard. The writing, to me, was sharp and the humor worked. But I guess the Nielsen families across the country disagreed.
|
