Julia Louis-Dreyfuss makes her second comeback attempt to primetime television since the demise of “Seinfeld”, in “The New Adven-tures of Old Christine.”In the series that airs Monday nights at 9:30 p.m. on CBS, Julia plays a character that is not so far off from her private persona; Christine is a divorced mother of a little boy. The story is about Christine coping with the fact that she is divorced and raising a son all while her ex-husband is living the single life with his twenty-some-thing girlfriend, who is half his age.
As we all know, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss is not new to primetime comedy television: in fact, this year marks her twentieth years in primetime, but the first time for the CBS network. In 1986, she starred in a sit-com, similar to her latest. The sitcom starred up-coming actors, such as herself, Christopher Barns (Gregg Brady of “The Brady Bunch Movie”), Courtney Thorn-Smith (“Melrose Place,” “Ally McBeal,” “According to Jim”) and Thea Birch (child star of 1990s).
Between “Seinfeld” and present day, there was a very short lived series that never got off the ground. As for “The New Adven-tures of Old Christine,” the verdict is not in as of yet; it’s only been on the air for a week.
Julia Louis-Dreyfuss has come a long way from her Elaine days, or is Christine an adult version of Elaine? Well, let’s debate the differences: Elaine was a zealous young woman who took life at face value and could also be overbearing, but Elaine was never married and never had any children. However, Julia is a character actor, so perhaps there is a little Julia in Elaine, a little Elaine in Christine, and a little Christine in Julia Louis-Dreyfuss.
In the prime episode of “The New Adven-tures of Old Christine,” the viewer is introduced to Christine through a day in the life of a divorced mother. Her day starts out by getting her son off. One thing leads to another and Christine’s ex-husband shows up. All the mothers are whispering about her, her husband and her husband’s new girlfriend. A scene later, Christine confronts her ex-husband in the school parking lot, while he and his girlfriend are necking in his car. So he is forced to introduce his new girlfriend to his ex-wife; therefore, the viewer is introduced to the concept of the title of the primetime situated comedy: “Christine, meet my girlfriend, Christine” to which the girlfriend responds, “Hi, I guess I am the new Christine.” Christine has new adventures through her divorce and with the new Christine as her ex’s girlfriend that makes her become the old Christine, in more ways than one.