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Dharma and Greg aired from September 1997 until April 2000 on ABC.
Opposites attracted quickly indeed in this romantic comedy, a hit of the 1997 fall season. Dharma ( Jenna Elfman), was a free-spirited San Francisco yoga instructor and dog trainer, living life on impulse. When she spotted ruggedly handsome attorney Greg ( Thomas Gibson), on a subway platform, she knew at once he was her spiritual mate. Greg was as stiff and conservative as Dharma was wild and impetuous, but somehow he knew too, and they were married on their first date. The news did not sit well with either set of parents, for different reasons. Dharma's bohemian mom Abby ( Mimi Kennedy), liked to paint in the nude, while her father Larry ( Alan Rachins),was a bumbling ant-war radical from the '60's who acted as if he was still hiding from the authorities ( although nobody seemed to care). To them Dharma had married into the hated establishment ( Greg was an assistant U.S. Attorney). Greg's rich parents, Edward and Kitty ( Mitchell Ryan, Susan Sullivan), were blue bloods from the country-club crowd, to whom Dharma was utterly incomprehensible. Pete ( Joel Murray), was Greg's gross co-worker and Jane ( Shae D'lyn), was Dharma's flaky friend.
During later seasons Greg left the U.S. Attorney's office, went on a " voyage of self-discovery," and eventually set up a private practice with his friend Pete. Abby had a baby; and Dharma and Greg were both injured in a car accident, which led them to be even more appreciative of their lives with each other.
A Review from The New York Times
TELEVISION REVIEW; She's Wild, He's Square: It's Made in Heaven
By CARYN JAMES
Published: September 24, 1997
When Dharma Finkelstein, a free spirit whose parents are permanently stuck in the 60's, meets Greg Montgomery, an assistant United States Attorney from an upper-crust San Francisco family, their eyes lock, they realize they are soul mates, they fly to Reno for blueberry pie and get married that very night.
If that sounds weird, consider this as an example of the inscrutable ways of television: ever since the fall schedules were announced, the insufferably cute ''Dharma and Greg'' has been considered one of the season's most likely hits and Jenna Elfman hyped as a ready-made star. Those predictions might come true, but it's a depressing thought. Dharma and Greg are so cloying they make the happy, well-adjusted Buchmans on ''Mad About You'' seem like Bonnie and Clyde.
Ms. Elfman gets a lot of mileage out of squealing, making little chipmunk faces and flaunting Dharma's retro-chic wardrobe and supposedly wacky lack of convention. How unconventional is she? She loves going to baseball games because you can stand up and yell anything, the more nonsensical the better. ''Come on, big guy, drive your coffee table to Idaho, woooo!'' she yells. That's as wacky as it gets.
Mr. Gibson (from ''Chicago Hope'') has the thankless job of playing straight man, and strait-laced man. Occasionally Greg lets his emotions break through, but basically he has to act like a tree. And these are the people we're supposed to care about.
Unlike the lovers, their disapproving parents are meant to be laughable stereotypes, and are more amusing for it. Susan Sullivan has a perfectly poised delivery as Greg's aloof country-club mother, and Mitchell Ryan is amusingly stiff as his father (you see where the son came from). Alan Rachins is apoplectic and endearing as Dharma's father, a balding man with a ponytail halfway down his back. Mimi Kennedy is Dharma's sweet, understanding mother.
Next week the in-laws meet and plan a wedding reception, with predictably disastrous results. The groom's side wants uniformed waiters serving veal; the bride's side wants the waiters to sit with the guests so they won't feel exploited. Despite some amusing moments, the series has nowhere to go except in circles.
''Dharma and Greg'' obviously wants to update ''Barefoot in the Park.'' That's not a foolish idea. The advance praise might even suggest some reaction against the staid 90's, or some longing for romantic comedy. But ''Barefoot in the Park'' belongs to a time when free spirits were truly rare; the idea makes a lot less sense and has a lot less charm today. Or maybe the advance praise says more about the cookie-cutter quality of most other sitcoms than it does about the slender wit of ''Dharma and Greg'' itself.
DHARMA AND GREG
ABC, tonight at 8:30
(Channel 7 in New York)
Created by Chuck Lorre and Dottie Dartland. Mr. Lorre, Ms. Dartland, Brian Medavoy and Erwin More, executive producers; Bill Prady and Regina Stewart, co-executive producers. Randy Cordray, producer. A Chuck Lorre production and a 4 to 6 production in association with 20th Century Fox Television.
WITH: Jenna Elfman (Dharma Finkelstein), Thomas Gibson (Greg Montgomery), Mimi Kennedy (Abby Finkelstein), Alan Rachins (Larry Finkelstein), Susan Sullivan (Kitty Gibson), Mitchell Ryan (Edward Gibson), Joel Murray (Pete) and Shae D'lyn (Jane).
A Review from Entertainment Weekly
Cover Story
STRANGE BED FELLOWS
CAN A HIPPIE (DHARMA) AND A YUPPIE (GREG) FIND TRUE LOVE--AND HELP ABC WIN BACK VIEWERS' HEARTS?
By Dan Snierson
DHARMA & GREG CBS, 8:30-9 PM STARTS SEPT. 24
One day this summer, while shooting the upcoming Disney comedy Krippendorf's Tribe, Jenna Elfman of Dharma & Greg found herself sitting in the makeup trailer next to Murphy Brown's Lily Tomlin. ''She's getting her hair done and I'm getting my makeup done, and I'm going on about how our show shouldn't have much competition this fall,'' Elfman recalls. ''And she says, 'We're on Wednesday at 8:30 too.' So I'm like, 'Lily, if we kick your ass in the ratings, will you still like me?' And she just rolled her eyes toward me and gave me a very slow, sly smile.''
Who can blame the kid for showing a little rookie bravado? ABC's uptight boy- meets-hang-loose girl series is already being trumpeted as the freshest sitcom of the fall -- not to mention the perfect breakout vehicle for the 25-year-old Elfman (''What exactly am I breaking out of?'' she asks). ''Everyone seems extremely confident in us,'' cautiously notes the other half of the equation, ex-Chicago Hope hunk Thomas Gibson, 35. ''A couple of advertisers came up to us at the network presentations and said, 'I can't wait to spend our budget on your show.'''
Dharma domination would be a welcome (and necessary) blessing for the No. 3 net, which seeks to reverse tumbling fortunes. ''This show has instant hit potential,'' gushes (admittedly biased) ABC VP of marketing Alan Cohen.
Instant hit? That'd be a doubly impressive feat, considering that prime-time audiences haven't cozied up to a romantic comedy since 1992's Mad About You. (RIP If Not for You, It Had to Be You, Almost Perfect, Hudson Street...) In this slicker, twentysomething take on the genre, Elfman plays chirpy tree hugger Dharma, who bumps into buttoned-up Ivy-schooled lawyer Greg (Gibson); they see fireworks, yada yada yada, and they're hitched by the end of the first date. Conflicts and yuks arise as the couple get to know each other and their polar-opposite parents, who include Falcon Crest's Susan Sullivan as Greg's pass-the-beluga mom and L.A. Law's Alan Rachins as Dharma's screw-the-Establishment dad. ''Falling in love was the easy part,'' notes Dharma exec producer Chuck Lorre. ''Staying in love is the series.''
Hollywood execs have already fallen hard for the 5'10'' Elfman, who swiped scenes last season as sex-happy Shannon on Molly Ringwald's nixed ABC sitcom, Townies. ''Jenna is the only person I've ever seen who could combine height and cuteness,'' notes ABC VP of comedy series Carolyn Ginsburg. Elfman immediately latched on to Dharma and joined in the search for would-be suitors. ''A lot of the guys were handsome and potentially charming,'' she recalls. ''But they would walk in and apologize for it in a weird, kiss-assy way. The moment I saw Thomas, I knew. It was like KSHHHHHHHH! Something smacked me across the face.'' (''I certainly didn't mean to slap her,'' deadpans Gibson. ''I was just standing there.'')
And the rest, as they say, is chemistry. Like the many deep-sixed romantic comedies before it, Dharma must live or die on that ineffable attraction. If this particular marriage fails, though, it definitely won't be for lack of effort. ''You want to use everything you've got, not just one part,'' notes Elfman. ''To survive, you have to be willing to play the fool. And I'm very willing. I don't care, I'll sing loudly, I'll do anything!'' Lily Tomlin, consider yourself warned.
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