Back to You (TV series)
Two squabbling news anchors reunite on and off the air.
Back to You is an American sitcom produced by Picture Day Productions and 20th Century Fox Television, airing on Fox from September 19, 2007, to May 14, 2008. The series was created and executive produced by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, with James Burrows directing. It starred Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton as quarreling co-anchors of a Pittsburgh news program.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Sitcom
- Creator
- Christopher Lloyd; Steven Levitan
- Director
- James Burrows
- Starring
- Kelsey Grammer
- Patricia Heaton
- Ayda Field
- Laura Marano
- Lily Jackson
- Josh Gad
- Ty Burrell
- Fred Willard
- Theme music
- Adam Anders
- Composer
- Paul Buckley
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Chuck Darling and Kelly Carr were co-anchors of Pittsburgh's WURG News 9, displaying strong on-screen chemistry despite constant off-screen quarrels. Chuck left for a better job, but after an embarrassing comment led to his dismissal from a Los Angeles newscast, he returned to Pittsburgh after ten years. He also discovered he is the father of Kelly's ten-year-old daughter, Gracie, who turns eleven in the episode "Something's Up There".
Characters
Chuck Darling (Kelsey Grammer) is the co-anchor at WURG-TV, News 9, who left the station on New Year's Eve 1996 for a better job, eventually moving to Los Angeles. After a curse-filled outburst toward a co-worker became a YouTube sensation, he returned to WURG and resumed co-anchoring with Kelly Carr. He later learns he fathered a child with Kelly, Gracie, from a one-night stand the night before he left; he and Gracie get along well, sharing a mutual dislike for Kelly. Chuck was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut. Kelly Marsha Carr (Patricia Heaton) is Chuck's co-anchor, who became pregnant after a drunken encounter with Chuck on New Year's Eve 1996. She is unhappy about his return and frequently expresses anger toward him. Montana Diaz Herrera (real name Sally Lerner) (Ayda Field) is WURG's purportedly Latina weatherwoman until she is fired in episode 13. She pretends to be Hispanic because stations wanted to hire minorities, choosing the alias Montana from where she ice-skated and mistaking Diaz Herrera for "Happy Days" in Spanish. It is alluded that she is Marsh's daughter; her mother is Louise Lerner. Ryan Church (Josh Gad) is the 26-and-a-half-year-old news director at WURG, with a birthday in March. He has a crush on Montana and tries to impress her with dangerous stunts; he formerly ran the station's internet division.
Production history
In January 2007, Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton were in talks to lead the cast of the series, then titled Action News, which had a script commitment with 20th Century Fox Television. The script attracted interest from multiple networks before Fox secured it with a blind thirteen-episode commitment in February 2007. The series became Levitan and Lloyd's first project under Levitan-Lloyd Productions. It was renamed Back to You in April 2007 because Pittsburgh has a real-life Channel 4 Action News; the show was originally set in Buffalo, New York, but co-creator Lloyd felt a fall from Los Angeles (market #2) to Buffalo (market #49) was implausible, despite several real-life examples. The series was officially greenlit on May 11, 2007. James Burrows, who directed all episodes, joined as an executive producer in June 2007. Produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Levitan-Lloyd Productions, the series premiered on September 19, 2007, airing Wednesdays at 8:30/7:30c on Fox, leading out 'Til Death. The first episode drew 9.44 million viewers. On October 24, 2007, the show received an additional 11 episodes, bringing the total to 24. Despite cancellation, Channel 4 in the United Kingdom picked up the show, premiering on More4 on June 11, 2008, and later moving to Channel 4. Filming took place at 20th Century Fox Studios in Los Angeles.
Reception
Back to You received generally mixed reviews, with a Metacritic rating of 58. Entertainment Weekly wrote, "I'd rather just watch Grammer and Heaton trade barbs in the newsroom. The Philadelphia Inquirer stated, "You have to admire Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton for holding up their end of the bargain, even if the material ... is such a drop from 'Frasier' and 'Everybody Loves Raymond'. Still, the fact that it is executed by sure-footed comedy veterans more than makes up for the sin of familiarity. The episode "Something's Up There" (November 14, 2007) included a line about a Polish-American character that prompted Fox to apologize on November 20, 2007, vowing never to air it again in repeats or syndication.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who stars in Back to You (TV series)?
Back to You stars Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Heaton, Ayda Field, Laura Marano, Lily Jackson, Josh Gad, Ty Burrell and Fred Willard.
How many episodes of Back to You (TV series) are there?
Back to You has 17 episodes across 1 season.
More in Television Series by 20th Century Fox Television
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