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List Price: $39.98 | | Label: 20th Century Fox
Salesrank: 30664
Released: October 14, 2008 |
| Our Price: $23.65 |
| Used Price: $19.49 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
TV veterans Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton star as news anchors working together at a Pittsburgh television station.
Description of Back to You - Season 1:
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
Back to You - Season 1 Reviews:
Got to own it 
2009-07-07 - On a simplistic level, Back to You can be imagined as a mix of Frasier with Everybody Loves Raymond, with a touch of Murphy Brown. It is not as great as the first two, but it is as funny. Back to You is a very high quality show in all aspects, but Frasier is such an exraordinary masterpiece, it is difficult to compare most shows to it. Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton give superior performances, there is good chemistry between them and they are lots of fun to watch. The supporting cast is excellent and funny, with minor exceptions. The ten years old daughter is played by two different actresses, of which the first is better.
There are very few sitcoms as good and as funny as Back to You. Considering that the show was on the air for only one season, largely due to the 2007 Writers Guild strike, it is fortunate that it is available on DVD. It is a valued addition to our comedy collection.
Good show 
2009-06-23 - This is a good show. If you're a fan of either Kelsey Grammer or Patricia Heaton, like I am, then get this, its episodes will entertain you. If not, well maybe the show isn't for you. It's a good show, but not a great show. It's not hard to see, when watching this, why it was cancelled. It's got a great cast, but sometimes the jokes are cheap & the storylines stupid. It isn't a sitcom of the highest calibre, but it has a high calibre cast.
great show
2009-06-15 - Yet another great show canceled after just one season, just like Firefly or The Dresden Files. I don't know what the executives who did that were thinking. I'd have been happy to buy this show on DVD for a long time.
canceled too early!
2009-05-22 - a high powered cast featuring Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton who play co-anchors at a news station in Pittsburgh who re-unite (professionally and emotionally) after many years; well written and fun; Fox prematurely canceled this show but it will live on thanks to the dvd which features unaired episodes. At first, seemingly predictable and difficult to get beyond the actors' former personalities from prior hits Frasier and Everybody Loves Raymond, the two stars soon develop a winning rapport and chemistry, making the show inviting and charming.
the supporting cast of eccentric staffers at the local news station (especially Fred Willard)is a winner!
Though critics complained it was similar in format to the Mary Tyker Moore Show, what is wrong with that? It's an updated and sexier version as well.
Look for it on sale, though MSRP is way too high, got it at a bargain price on Amazon and makes a great addition to one's video library as it can be enjoyed over and over again!
Way too good to be cancelled!
2009-04-22 - Place two strong personalities as competing coanchors on the nightly news and you have Kelly Carr and Chuck Darling. Add the fact that a one night stand resulted in a child between them and you have a lot of different emotions to deal with. The main leads are supported with a great cast (weather girl, sports guy, news director, and reporter) that brings many different personalities into conflict as well as support of each other.
It's a battle of egos as the two former coanchors have to learn to work together again. Plus realizing 10 years later while on the air that he has a child with his coanchor is quite the challenge for Chuck Darling to maintain professional in the workplace with the secret. Kelly Carr had told her daughter Gracie and the fellow staff that it was a sperm donor.
Still living at hotels, Chuck is big on fun and low on commitment beyond his job. There's a lot of growing up for all involved as they try to sort out how they feel about each other. You could say the 10 years apart has actually allowed Kelly and Chuck to grow closer together in their previous huge differences. One of those "not a couple" but have the chemistry to return there as they balance each other so well in who gets the "best" of the other in their conversations.
The network did mess around changing Grace's actress and dropped the weather girl completely. However even with those big mistakes, the series still moved forward with style. If you like blunt honesty...this series sure has it. I have not laughed this much watching a tv sitcom in years so can't understand why any network would cancel it.
