Almost Perfect was a half-hour sitcom that aired from September 1995until October 1996 on CBS.
The travails of 2 young ambitious professionals in Los Angeles trying to develop a relationship while coping with the demands of their jobs was the focus of this romantic comedy. Kim ( Nancy Travis), the only woman on the writing staff of the hit tv cop series Blue Justice, had just been promoted to Executive Producer when she met " Mr. Right" handsome district attorney Mike Ryan ( Kevin Kilner). The chemistry between them was strong, and romance blossomed-but they had their problems. Hers were the nutty writers on Blue Justice, as well as the insecure and/or overbearing actors on the show. The writers were Neal( David Clennon), a burned-out hack with a penchant for one-liners; Rob ( Matthew Letscher), the young innocent from the midwest who desperately wanted to become a "cool" Angelino; and Gary ( Chip Zien), a world class neurotic who wanted her job. Gary's personal problems included his obnoxious wife Patty ( Lisa Edelstein), from whom he seperated in November. Mike's schedule with the D.A.'s kept him busy and his friendship with the writers working for Kim tended to get in the way of the relationship. Both were very competitive, and each of them needed to be in control of their relationship, but their love seemed to be strong enough to overcome the difficulties; by the end of the season they were living together.
When Almost Perfect returned in the fall of 1996, Kim and Mike were breaking up and she was adjusting to life without a serious romantic relationship. The change in the series focus didn't have much time to evolve, it was canceled after the 4th episode of the 1996-1997 season.
A Review From Variety
Almost Perfect
((CBS, Sun. Sept. 17, 8:30 p.m.))
By CAROLE HORST
Filmed in Los Angeles by Levine & Isaacs Prods. in association with Paramount Network Television. Executive producers, Ken Levine, David Isaacs, Robin Schiff. Co-executive producer, Victor Fresco; producers, Robin Chamberlin, Larina Adamson; co-producers, Mike and Linda Teverbaugh; associate producer, Lori Moneymaker; creators-writers, Schiff, Levine, Isaacs; story, Schiff; director, Andy Ackerman.
Cast: Nancy Travis, Kevin Kilner, David Clennon, Matthew Letscher, Chip Zien, Mark Harelik, Mary Gordon Murray, Eileen Seeley, Roxanne Beckford, Dendrie Taylor, Cliff Levine, Cameron Watson.
As a romantic half-hour comedy, "Almost Perfect" works almost perfectly when the two principals, Nancy Travis and the wry Kevin Kilner, spar with one another in a Tracy & Hepburn way. But rest of cast, including the wonderful David Clennon, is left to wrestle with two dimensional characters. Overall, it's hard to tell where this series is headed -- both in plot and success -- after the pilot episode. Destined for a newly competitive Sunday night -- since the removal of ratings juggernaut "Murder, She Wrote" -- "Perfect" should keep some of its "Cybill" lead-in, but not for long.
Kim Cooper (Travis), the only female writer on TV show "Blue Justice," is suddenly thrust into the exec producer slot on the show. Pilot sets the tone: She's a hyper-busy career woman with a string of bad relationships behind her and a gagle of married-with-children friends.
"Perfect" opens weakly with Kim meeting a blind date at a restaurant -- only she sits down with the wrong man (Kevin Kilner), and they click. He turns out to be handsome D.A. Mike Ryan.
Series' main weakness is Kim's "Blue Justice" co-workers, who skim stereotypes: the Iowa farm boy (a blond, natch), the nebbish and the bizarre gonzo burnout (the almost unrecognizable Clennon). Kim's and Mike's worlds don't intersect, and the show sags when they're not onscreen together.
Travis' chemistry with Kilner is right on, but she strives to be a tough, independent woman in a man's world, and she comes off brassy and loud, Kilner is dry and witty; he slides into his character with ease.
Tech credits are top-notch.
A Review From Entertainment Weekly
TV Review
RELATIONSHIPS AHOY!
NANCY TRAVIS AND ELIZABETH MCGOVERN FIND TV LOVE
-- By Ken Tucker
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
Posted Sep 22, 1995
Another Article from Entertainment Weekly
Television News
Rebound for Glory?
Sitcom tries to spice things up to boost its ratings
By Jessica Shaw
As anyone who's been in a relationship knows, a lot can happen between May and October. And this summer has been particularly hard on TV couples. Take Almost Perfect's Kim (Nancy Travis) and Mike (Kevin Kilner). When last we saw them, pre-hiatus, they'd worked out their problems and were walking off into the CBS sunset. If you like Mike, you'll be happy to see him in the series' season opener. But don't get used to it. ''The network found out everyone loved Nancy Travis but didn't buy the relationship,'' says executive producer and creator Robin Schiff. ''A lot of people felt the guy wasn't as dynamic as she was.'' Faster than you can say ''retool that series,'' Mike was deep-sixed by the network.
At least he's not swimming alone in the sitcom-relationship reject pool: Caroline in the City's Del (Eric Lutes) is now just a friend, while Friends' Richard (Tom Selleck) will be smoking his stogies elsewhere. And with the exit of Charlie (Jensen Daggett), The Single Guy's Jonathan Silverman is now living up to his series' title. ''It's important to a show to shake things up sometimes,'' Schiff reasons.
Whatever the excuse, Almost Perfect — the only new CBS sitcom of last fall to survive the season — is hoping Kim's newfound solo status will be the right marriage with the Wednesday-night audience. ''When the show started, Kim was single and a [TV]writer, and by the end of last season, she had a great boyfriend and was running her show [Blue Justice],'' Schiff says. ''We realized that was more than almost perfect. We needed something that would open up the story lines.''
''Not having one specific guy on the show offers a lot of comedic opportunities,'' agrees Travis, 34. Making sure those opportunities are exploited, the show hired supervising producer Carol Leifer, formerly of Seinfeld, who is widely considered to be the basis for the Elaine character. In one upcoming Leifer-penned script, Travis agrees to date a dorky guy (droll comic Steven Wright) simply because he lives in a ratings-box household. ''I feel for Kim,'' says Travis, who has been married to film producer Rob Fried for two and a half years. ''I'd say my dating experiences ranged from sublime to ridiculous — 80 percent being ridiculous.''
By scheduling the sitcom on a strong night, following The Nannyand Pearl, CBS is giving Almost Perfect a shot, but will it make it after all? ''I don't know if the changes will bring in more viewers,'' Travis confesses. ''If I could figure that out, I'd forget this actress thing and be running the network.''
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