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If Not for You aired from September until October 1995 on CBS.

Love is not always easy to understand. Audio-book producer Jessie ( Elizabeth McGovern) was engaged to Elliot (Peter Krause), a brooding architect. Record producer Craig ( Hank Azaria)was engaged to neurotic singer Melanie( Jane Sibbett). When Jessie and Craig first saw each other at a Chinese restaurant while with their respective fiances , there was an instant attraction.The next day they found they were working in the same Minneapolis recording studio, Gopher Records, and they began to wonder whether they were engaged to the right people. Also working at the studio were Eileen ( Debra Jo Rupp), who did voices for airport warnings , and Cal ( Jim Turner), a flaky sound engineer. Bobby ( Reno Wilson) , a friend of Craig's was an aspiring singer and composer who turned everything into a song.

By the fourth episode Jessie and Craig had told their fiances that they were in love with each other , but the series was canceled before their romance had a chance to develop. Sad

A Review from The New York daily News

Not' Is Ready For Prime Time
BY DAVID BIANCULLI
Monday, September 18, 1995

TWO new CBS sitcoms with pop-song titles, "Can't Hurry Love" and "If Not for You," premiere tonight, at 8:30 and 9:30, respectively. The first stars Nancy McKeon, and is barely passable; the second, because it stars Elizabeth McGovern, is totally lovable.

"If Not for You" is based on a premise that is intriguing, though potentially limiting.

Remember "The Heartbreak Kid," the movie in which callow Charles Grodin, on his honeymoon, falls in love with Cybill Shepherd at first sight and neglects his new bride to follow his instincts? Well, "If Not for You" is like that, except that the wedding vows haven't been exchanged yet, and this time the chemistry is a two-way connection.

McGovern, who has been largely wasted in the movies since her early triumphs in "Ragtime" and "Ordinary People," plays Jessie, an audio-book producer engaged to a nice but dull man, Elliot (Peter Krause). Hank Azaria, who on "The Simpsons" provides the voices of (among others) Moe the bartender and Apu the Kwik-E-Mart manager, plays Craig, a record producer engaged to a nice but dull woman, Melanie (Jane Sibbett).

At adjoining tables at a restaurant, these two couples engage in separate conversations, but loud enough for the other couple to overhear, and soon Jessie and Craig are flashing knowing, sympathetic glances at one another. In "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover," that led to a sexual tryst in the women's bathroom; in "If Not for You," it leads to a quick and laughably manic surreptitious conversation at the restaurant pay phones.

Dennis Klein and Larry Levin are executive producers of the series; Levin wrote the script, and Barnet Kellman directs.

The strength of the series comes, in equal measure, from the funny script and the appealing acting: McGovern and Azaria play their mutual attraction almost as an unwanted magnetic force, making them seem more sympathetic, less lecherous and a lot more humorous.

And since McGovern has done little television, she may have no idea how quickly and completely she's nailed a very tricky part, and how impressive it is that she can spit out her lines with such speed and credibility. It's easy to see how Craig fell in love at first sight. Whoever watches "If Not for You" is likely to do the same thing and the show's unknown resolution is another factor in its favor.

WITH "Can't Hurry Love," one of the season's clearest "Friends" clones, the biggest factor in its favor is Mariska Hargitay, who plays the loose best friend of McKeon's relatively uptight Annie. Annie is single, lives in New York, and has a somewhat boorish co-worker (Louis Mandylor) as one of her supportive friends.

McKeon is stuck not only with a dull character but with repugnant dialogue that has her naming her breasts "Thelma" and "Louise." Peter Dobson, as a dream date turned nightmare, is a lot funnier than McKeon, as is Hargitay, who sparkles enough in her supporting role to earn stardom the next time around.

She should be available fairly soon.

A Review from Entertainment Weekly

TV Review
ALMOST PERFECT;IF NOT FOR YOU
Reviewed by Ken Tucker | Sep 22, 1995

It would be unfortunate if the current glut of sophisticated and would-be-sophisticated sitcoms ended up causing two smart new romantic comedies, ALMOST PERFECT (CBS, Sundays, 8:30-9 p.m.) and IF NOT FOR YOU (CBS, Mondays, 9:30-10 p.m.), to get lost in the prime-time shuffle. In Almost Perfect, the producer of a TV cop show (Nancy Travis) and a DA (Kevin Kilner) meet cute in a restaurant and commence a fling. In If Not for You, an audio-book producer (Elizabeth McGovern) and a record producer (Hank Azaria) meet cute in a res taurant and would like to commence a fling, but each is engaged to another.

If If's premise is slightly more original than Perfect's, Perfect has the better subplot: The show that Travis' character works on is called Blue Justice, a barely disguised version of NYPD Blue and a springboard for amusing TV in-jokes as well as a funny staff, which includes thirtysomething's David Clennon as a zonked, black-humored writer more interested in researching autopsy photos than in devising plot twists.

Both of these shows star actresses who've made their reputations in feature films, yet who prove to be dexterous sitcom leads. Travis has a ball as a brassy, frazzled career woman. She's well paired with Kilner, with his calm demeanor (he seems like Scott Bakula with a better sense of irony). You have no trouble imagining these two hitting it off.

Although there's chemistry aplenty between McGovern (she looks soft, speaks firmly) and Azaria (he looks haggard, speaks energetically), the show's first problem is that it's all too obvious that their betrotheds were never the right mates for either of them. There's just no way, for example, that McGovern's smart, wry character would go for a guy (Peter Krause) who stares at her blankly and says, ''I can never tell when you're joking.'' The show's second problem is, What is this series going to do once McGovern and Azaria dump their intendeds, other than turn into a well-written Mad About You rip?

Anyway, so far, Perfect's stars have displayed a flair for physical comedy (I really laughed when Kilner dried his hands on a cat), and If, a penchant for high-toned low jokes (the pilot has a punchline quote from Pascal). May CBS attract the younger demographics it seeks with these shows, and may both of them survive and deepen their respective love affairs. Almost Perfect: B If Not for You: B

An Article from The New York Daily News

MCGOVERN SERIES 'NOT FOR' US, SAYS CBS

By RICHARD HUFF

Friday, October 13th 1995, 4:22AM

LOW RATINGS have claimed the first victim of the season, and two appear poised for the same fate.

CBS yesterday confirmed that it has just made "If Not for You," a new sitcom starring Elizabeth McGovern and Hank Azaria, the first casualty of the three-week-old '95-'96 TV season.

"If Not for You" had its last telecast Monday. For the next two weeks, it'll be replaced by repeats of "Cybill."

No one at CBS would comment, but the "Cybill" repeats on Monday could trigger a few changed aimed at shoring up CBS' sagging ratings. That includes eventually moving "Cybill" back to the Monday 9:30 post-"Murphy Brown" slot, where it did well last year before being shifted this season to Sundays, where it has faltered.

There's also speculation that "Murder, She Wrote" will return to Sundays at 8 p.m., its home for more than a decade before CBS moved it this season to Thursday nights.

Since it debuted last month, "If Not for You" has struggled, often losing 25% of the lead-in audience handed it by "Murphy Brown." Seven episodes of the series were produced; four have aired.

Meanwhile, ABC has little positive to say about two of its struggling newcomers, "Charlie Grace" and "The Monroes," both of which, word has it, are teetering on the edge of cancellation.

"No final decision has been made," said a network spokeswoman.

For a Website dedicated to Elizabeth McGovern go to http://elizabethmcgovern.tripod.com/index.html

To watch a promo from If not For You go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dT-PTQbl7k