Back to You - Season 1

BACK TO YOU:SEASON 1 - DVD Movie

There are a variety of reasons that Back to You was canceled after a single season on the air, but quality most certainly is not one of them. The 17 episodes collected in this three-disc set reveal that this was a sitcom with all its ducks in a row, including an excellent pedigree (between them, co-executive producers Christopher Lloyd and Steve Levitan had been involved in various capacities in shows like Frasier, Just Shoot Me, and The Golden Girls), considerable star power and chemistry with Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton in the lead roles, a fine supporting cast, and first-rate writing. The premise is good, too: Having left Pittsburgh TV station WURG a decade earlier to pursue fame and fortune in places like Dallas and Los Angeles, news anchor Chuck Darling (Grammer) has returned to his former employer. His failures in those larger ponds have scarcely made him less preening and arrogant, but the news that a drunken one-night stand with once and future co-anchor Kelly Carr (Heaton) resulted in a daughter who’s now ten years old definitely throws him for a loop. What ensues is a season’s worth (well, almost--the 2007 Writers Guild strike left the producers without a full complement of episodes) of typical rom-com sniping, snarking, and sexual innuendo between the two stars. Do Chuck and Kelly tell little Gracie (and everyone else) the truth? How long will it take before the two parents admit they’re crazy about each other and get on with their long-delayed relationship? Nothing groundbreaking here, but Back to You is smart, adult, sometimes pretty silly (a running gag involving goldfish in "Fish Story" is a riot), and almost always funny, even as it deals with such serious issues as a dad trying to get to know the kid he never even knew he had. As for the supporting cast, Fred Willard is reliably off-the-wall as a veteran sportscaster, and Ty Burrell excels as the field reporter whose humiliating assignments only deepen his bitterness that he didn’t get the anchor gig (oddly, the cheesecake weather girl disappears before season’s end, while Gracie is played by two different actresses). Best among the bonus material is a 30-minute behind-the-scenes featurette that details the making of the show, from conception to cancellation. --Sam Graham