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After Friends went off the air four years ago, there seemed to be a shortage of truly lovable sitcoms. Sure, there are plenty of funny sitcoms out there. And some even come close to being lovable (like How I Met Your Mother). But none of them had the right combination of solid laughs and characters that I could care about. None of them made me want to drop what I was doing and tune in every week—until I met Sam.
Samantha Who? follows the story of Samantha Newly (Christina Applegate), a hit-and-run victim who comes out of an eight-day coma with a serious case of retrograde amnesia. In other words, she can still remember how to do normal, everyday things—like brush her teeth—but she doesn’t recognize her family or friends. She has no idea what she does for a living. And she doesn’t remember anything about her past. But, as it turns out, it’s probably best that way.
With help from those closest to her—her parents, Howard and Regina (Kevin Dunn and Emmy winner Jean Smart), her best friend, Andrea (Jennifer Esposito), her childhood friend, Dena (Melissa McCarthy), and her boyfriend, Todd (Barry Watson)—Sam starts putting the pieces together. But the picture isn’t pretty. Old Sam wasn’t a good person. She cheated on her boyfriend, stabbed her friends in the back, verbally abused her secretary, and lied without thinking twice.
Appalled by her old self, Sam decides that it’s time for a change. So while she’s starting over from scratch, re-learning all about life and love and heartbreak and friendship, she decides that it’s the perfect time to become a whole new—good—Sam.
Samantha Who? has everything that I once loved about Friends: a whole lot of laughs, a touch of romance, and plenty of lovable characters (played by the perfect cast). In fact, Sam often reminds me of Jennifer Aniston’s Rachel Green (coincidentally, Applegate guest-starred on Friends as Rachel’s sister, Amy). And her will-they-or-won’t-they romance with Todd even has a Ross-and-Rachel feel to it.
But each character—and cast member—brings something special to the show. Emmy winner Smart is hilarious as Sam’s self-absorbed mother (who, when we first meet her, is trying to take advantage of her daughter’s coma to get on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition). McCarthy is adorable as Sam’s awkward childhood friend—who’s just a little bit odd without crossing the line to annoying. And Watson’s Todd adds the perfect romantic challenge: how can these two people—who obviously care about each other—ever make their relationship work?
At the center of it all, though, is Applegate, who plays the title character with both heart and humor. You can’t help but love sweet and naïve Sam, who faces each new adventure (and each new lesson) with an almost child-like sense of wonder—as well as with genuine confusion. Sure, the concept may be a bit far-fetched, but Applegate will make you believe it.
With each episode, Samantha Who? provides plenty of laughs—along with plenty of reasons to keep coming back for more. In fact, it’s so much fun to watch that, once you pop the first disc into your DVD player, you might be tempted to watch the entire 15-episode season in one sitting. While you’re at it, check out the extras, too—including a short blooper reel and a bunch of deleted scenes (which you can watch with or without introductions by executive producer Donald Todd, who clearly loves the word, “monkey,” as much as I do).
If you missed the first season on Samantha Who? when it aired on TV, be sure to catch it now on DVD—so you’ll be ready when the second season premieres next month.
