| Watching Ellie | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Brad Hall |
| Starring | |
| Composer | Oscar Castro-Neves |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 19 (3 unaired) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Brad Hall |
| Producers |
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| Camera setup |
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| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | February 26, 2002 (2002-02-26) – May 20, 2003 (2003-05-20) |
Watching Ellie is an American television sitcom that stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and was created by her husband, Brad Hall and aired on NBC from February 26, 2002 to May 20, 2003. Sixteen episodes were broadcast before it was canceled due to low ratings.
Premise and formats
There were two incarnations of Watching Ellie. Both focused on the character of cabaret singer Ellie Riggs (Louis-Dreyfus), with markedly different approaches.
The first was directed by Ken Kwapis, known for his innovative work in single-camera sitcoms such as The Larry Sanders Show, Malcolm in the Middle and The Bernie Mac Show. Each 22-minute episode was meant to portray a 22-minute slice of Ellie's life, in real time. In the earliest episodes, a clock was even shown in the corner of the screen. Louis-Dreyfus stated in 2003 that the clock was Jeff Zucker's idea. Thirteen episodes were filmed, but only ten aired before the series was put on indefinite hiatus (the remaining first-season episodes have never aired).
Nearly a full year later, the show reappeared as a more traditional sitcom, with multiple cameras and a live studio audience plus an added laugh track. This version fared even worse than its predecessor and was canceled after six episodes.
Cast
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Ellie Riggs
- Lauren Bowles – Susan
- Steve Carell – Edgar
- Darren Boyd – Ben
- Peter Stormare – Ingvar
- Don Lake – Dr. Zimmerman
Production
Louis-Dreyfus and Hall earned salaries of $350,000 each per episode and their contracts stipulated 15 episodes per season, rather than the usual 22. Carsey-Werner-Mandabach Productions, the original production company, dropped out because of the high costs and was replaced by NBC Studios.
The show was pitched to ABC, CBS, Fox and HBO, who all turned down the series.
Louis-Dreyfus and Bowles played sisters and they are also half-sisters in real life.
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Rank | Average viewership (in millions) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||||
| 1 | 13 | February 26, 2002 (2002-02-26) | May 9, 2002 (2002-05-09) | 55 | 10.0 | |
| 2 | 6 | April 15, 2003 (2003-04-15) | May 20, 2003 (2003-05-20) | 79 | 8.6 | |
Season 1 (2002)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | US viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Pilot" | Ken Kwapis | Brad Hall | February 26, 2002 (2002-02-26) | WE101 | 16.71 |
| 2 | 2 | "Wedding" | Ken Kwapis | Brad Hall | March 5, 2002 (2002-03-05) | WE105 | 12.03 |
| 3 | 3 | "Dinner Party" | Ken Kwapis | Brad Hall | March 12, 2002 (2002-03-12) | WE102 | 11.07 |
| 4 | 4 | "Aftershocks" | Michael Lehmann | Jack Burditt | March 19, 2002 (2002-03-19) | WE104 | 9.50 |
| 5 | 5 | "Cheetos" | Michael Engler | Story by : Andrew Gottlieb & Brad Hall Teleplay by : Brad Hall | March 26, 2002 (2002-03-26) | WE103 | 9.70 |
| 6 | 6 | "Tango" | Michael Engler | Andrew Gottlieb | April 2, 2002 (2002-04-02) | WE108 | 9.55 |
| 7 | 7 | "Gift" | Kevin Rodney Sullivan | Joe Furey | April 2, 2002 (2002-04-02) | WE106 | 10.15 |
| 8 | 8 | "Medicated" | Craig Zisk | Story by : Jeffrey Ross Teleplay by : Joe Furey | April 9, 2002 (2002-04-09) | WE107 | 7.48 |
| 9 | 9 | "Weekend" | Howard Deutch | Andrew Gottlieb | April 16, 2002 (2002-04-16) | WE110 | 7.61 |
| 10 | 10 | "Zimmerman" | Allison Liddi-Brown | Mike Armstrong | April 23, 2002 (2002-04-23) | WE109 | 6.90 |
| 11 | 11 | "Dream" | TBD | TBD | Unaired (Unaired) | WE113 | N/A |
| 12 | 12 | "Junk" | TBD | TBD | Unaired (Unaired) | WE112 | N/A |
| 13 | 13 | "Drive" | TBD | TBD | Unaired (Unaired) | WE111 | N/A |
Season 2 (2003)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | US viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 1 | "Shrink" | Robert Berlinger | Brad Hall & Andrew Gottlieb | April 15, 2003 (2003-04-15) | WE202 | 9.76 |
| 15 | 2 | "TV" | Craig Zisk | Andrew Gottlieb | April 22, 2003 (2003-04-22) | WE206 | 7.35 |
| 16 | 3 | "Date" | Craig Zisk | Brad Hall & Joe Furey | April 29, 2003 (2003-04-29) | WE201 | 8.68 |
| 17 | 4 | "Buskers" | Kevin Rodney Sullivan | Brad Hall & Andrew Gottlieb | May 6, 2003 (2003-05-06) | WE203 | 8.29 |
| 18 | 5 | "Fruit Shots" | Andy Ackerman | Brad Hall & Andrew Gottlieb | May 13, 2003 (2003-05-13) | WE205 | 7.44 |
| 19 | 6 | "Feud" | Craig Zisk | Brad Hall | May 20, 2003 (2003-05-20) | WE204 | 8.40 |
References
- Weinraub, Bernard (January 14, 2002). "You Loved Elaine, Now Meet Ellie; A High-Stakes Gamble Brings Another 'Seinfeld' Star Back to TV". The New York Times. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
- Rice, Lynette (May 1, 2002). "Testing: One, Two, Three..." Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
- "National Nielsen Viewership (Feb. 25–March 3)". The Los Angeles Times. March 6, 2002. Retrieved June 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "National Nielsen Viewership (March 4–10)". The Los Angeles Times. March 13, 2002. Retrieved June 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "National Nielsen Viewership (March 11–17)". The Los Angeles Times. March 20, 2002. Retrieved June 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "National Nielsen Viewership (March 18–24)". The Los Angeles Times. March 27, 2002. Retrieved June 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "National Nielsen Viewership (March 25–31)". The Los Angeles Times. April 3, 2002. Retrieved June 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (April 1–7)". The Los Angeles Times. April 10, 2002. Retrieved June 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "National Nielsen Viewership (April 8–14)". The Los Angeles Times. April 17, 2002. Retrieved June 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "National Nielsen Viewership (April 15–21)". The Los Angeles Times. April 24, 2002. Retrieved June 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "National Nielsen Viewership (April 22–28)". The Los Angeles Times. May 1, 2002. Retrieved June 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "National Nielsen Viewership (April 14–20)". The Los Angeles Times. April 23, 2003. Retrieved June 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "National Nielsen Viewership (April 21–27)". The Los Angeles Times. April 30, 2003. Retrieved June 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "National Nielsen Viewership (April 28–May 4)". The Los Angeles Times. May 7, 2003. Retrieved June 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "National Nielsen Viewership (May 5–11)". Los Angeles Times. May 14, 2003. Retrieved June 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "National Nielsen Viewership (May 12–18)". Los Angeles Times. May 21, 2003. Retrieved June 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "National Nielsen Viewership (May 19–25)". The Los Angeles Times. May 29, 2003. Retrieved June 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.