My Big Fat TV debut
Nia’s sitcom impresses but the true test comes Sunday
After raking in more than $250 million US at the box office with movie hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding, it’s time to see if her TV marriage is going to work similar ratings magic. The debut episode of My Big Fat Greek Life on CBS and Global last night was a promising start.
With a lead-in from Everybody Loves Raymond, the premiere courted comparisons to CBS’s most successful sitcom when newlyweds Nia and Thomas Miller agreed to move into a house across the street from her buttinsky clan’s restaurant, the Dancing Zorba. But the true popularity test comes this Sunday when the show settles into its regular CBS timeslot opposite perennial favourites The Simpsons.
The series is set shortly after the wedding, with the former Nia Portokalos (Vardalos) and teacher Thomas (Steven Eckholdt) returning from a honeymoon in Greece with plans to set boundaries with her parents Gus and Maria (Michael Constantine and Lainie Kazan) and an extended family that includes Nia’s chesty cousin Nicky, short-order cook brother Nick, outrageous aunt Voula (Andrea Martin) and an assortment of cousins, uncles and grandparents.
But Nia’s family hijacked the pair at the airport, where Nia explained her marriage with “non-Greek” Thomas to a fellow traveller, quipping, “It’d make a good movie.”
SLIGHTLY MORE HIP
Once home, the first order of business for Maria and Voula — after asking if Nia was pregnant yet after her 10-day vacation — was to inform Thomas, “now that the honeymoon is over, remember it’s not all about your pleasure.” So much for boundaries.
Accompanied by a laughtrack, the comedy is more broad on TV than in the movie, which earned Vardalos an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay, and Nia is slightly more hip. But she’s as likable on the small screen as on the big one, which is a big fat plus for this show.
‘N Sync singer star Joey Fatone guests as Nia’s cousin Angelo this Sunday, when she learns her parents plan to leave the Dancing Zorba to her in their will.
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