Less Than Perfect

infobox television
show_name = Less Than Perfect


caption = The series main cast
format = Sitcom
runtime = 30 minutes
creator = Terri Minsky
starring = Sara Rue
Andy Dick
Sherri Shepherd
Andrea Parker
Zachary Levi
Will Sasso (2003-2006)
Eric Roberts (2002-2005)
Patrick Warburton (2003-2006)
country = USA
network = ABC
first_aired = October 1, 2002
last_aired = August 1, 2006
num_seasons = 4
num_episodes = 81 (8 unaired)
imdb_id = 0320052
tv_com_id = 9286|

"Less Than Perfect" was an American sitcom that begun airing on ABC on October 1, 2002 and ended on August 1, 2006. The show was about a young female office employee (played by Sara Rue) and her co-workers. The show was directed by Skip Collector and Ted Wass, among others.

Overview and premise

The show, created by Terri Minsky, centered around Claude (Sara Rue), who worked at a television network and was the assistant for anchor Will Butler (Eric Roberts). Comedians Andy Dick, Will Sasso, and Sherri Shepherd played her co-workers and friends, while Zachary Levi and Andrea Parker played her enemies at work.

Much was made at the time of the show's premiere about the central character of the show being a "full figured" woman, and that the title correlated to Claude being "Less than Perfect". At the time of the show's premiere, Rue was a size 10 to 12, which is a norm or national average in America in real life, but is rarely depicted on television. [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5991977/ MSNBC.com] ] Over the course of the series, Rue lost 30 pounds. [ [http://extratv.warnerbros.com/v2/news/0805/24/3/text.html Extra.tv] ]

History

"Less Than Perfect" debuted in a Tuesday evening timeslot and received steady ratings for its first two seasons. When the series was moved in its third season to a Friday-night timeslot, ratings began to fall sharply, and the show was considered to be in danger of cancellation.

TVGuide.com featured the show on a list of "Endangered Series." Ratings in the coveted 18-49 demographic were high enough, and the show was near the threshold for number of episodes needed for syndication, so a limited fourth season of 13 episodes was ordered.

After a long hiatus from ABC's schedule, the show returned as a late-season replacement for ABC with its fourth season premiere on Tuesday, April 18, 2006 at 9:30 p.m. [ [http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-commanderinchief-lessthanperfectreturn,0,6470354.story?coll=zap-tv-headlines Zap2It] ]

Despite the pickup, the future of the series was not assured. Cast member Zachary Levi stated many cast members were ready to move on, [ [http://channels.isp.netscape.com/celebrity/hollywoodexclusive.jsp?feature=ce_hol_01122006 Netscape.com] ] and series lead Sara Rue had filmed a pilot for CBS starring as a woman who runs a toy company with her brother in the comedy "Play Nice".

ABC confirmed on May 17, 2006 that the fourth season would be its last. [ [http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds33121.html Digital Spy] ] ABC showed only part of the fourth season as scheduled. After five of the 13 episodes aired, ABC ceased broadcasting of the show, with the last episode broadcast on June 6, 2006. However, these episodes which remain unaired in the United States have been aired internationally.

International broadcasting of show

"Less Than Perfect" is currently showing on Paramount Comedy 1 in the United Kingdom, on ATV in Austria, on Nelonen in Finland, on FOX8 (pay tv) and the Seven Network (free to air) in Australia, on MTV Russia in Russia, on Star World for the rest of Asia, on yesSTARS in Israel, on Cuatro in Spain, on Sky Italia's FOX and MTV Italia in Italy, on Kanal 5 in Denmark, on HRT and Fox Life in Croatia and Serbia . The first seven episodes and episode nine of the final season of "Less Than Perfect" aired on TV2 in New Zealand, with the remaining episodes (eight and 10 through 13) yet to be scheduled, and in the UK a new season is to be aired. The show also aired on MBC 4 to Arabic speaking viewers. In Turkey, TNT Turkey airs. And ComedyMax currently airs the show for Digiturk subscribers and Comedy Smart airs for D-Smart subscribers.

Life after cancellation

No DVD release has been announced yet.

Characters

Main Characters

* Sara Rue - Claude Casey (2002-2006) (Seasons 1-4, 81 episodes)
* Sherri Shepherd - Ramona Platt (2002-2006) (Seasons 1-4, 81 episodes)
* Andy Dick - Owen Kronsky (2002-2006) (Season 1-4, 81 episodes)
* Andrea Parker - Lydia Weston (2002-2006) (Seasons 1-4, 81 episodes)
* Zachary Levi - Kipp Steadman (2002-2006) (Seasons 1-4, 81 episodes)
* Will Sasso - Carl Monari (2003-2006) (Seasons 2-4, (guest starring in season 1) 40 episodes)
* Patrick Warburton - Jeb Denton (2003-2006) (Seasons 2-4, 38 episodes)
* Eric Roberts - Will Butler (2002-2005) (Seasons 1-3, 57 episodes)

Recurring Characters

* Josh Braaten - Charlie, Claude's boyfriend from the travel department. (2002-2003 & 2005, Seasons 1 & 3, 8 episodes)
* William Ragsdale - Mitch Calgrove, a producer at GNB who Claude dates (2004, Season 2, 4 episodes)
* John Eric Bentley - An assistant director who becomes a director (2002 & 2006, Seasons 1 & 4, 3 episodes)
* George Wyner - Alan Turnbach, head of GNB news (2003 & 2006, Seasons 1 & 4, 3 episodes)
* French Stewart - Gene Schmidtline, an employee at GNB (2003-2005, Seasons 2-3, 3 episodes)
* Jenny McCarthy - Dani, Will's on-and-off girlfriend (2003, Season 2, 3 episodes)
* Diana-Maria Riva - Vivian, Carl's ex-girlfriend (2004-2005, Seasons 2-3, 3 episodes)
* Joanna Tamases - Irene, a co-worker at GNB who offers Claude a job (2006, Season 4, 3 episodes)
* Valerie Harper - Judith, Owen's mom (2003-2004, Seasons 2-3, 2 episodes)
* Joanna Kerns - Judy, Owen's other mom (2003-2004, Seasons 2-3, 2 episodes)
* Michael Boatman - Ted Elliot, a director who employs Claude (2003, Seasons 1-2, 2 episodes)
* Michael Angarano - George Denton, Jeb's son (2004, Seasons 2-3, 2 episodes)
* Nicole Sullivan - Deirdre Bishop, Owen's love interest (2003, Season 1, 2 episodes)

One-off guest stars

* Martin Mull - Mr Buddy Casey, Claude's dad (2002, Season 1)
* Cindy Williams - Mrs Joan Casey, Claude's mum (2002, Season 1)
* Joanna Cassidy - Norma (2003, Season 1)
* Trista Rehn - Herself (2003, Season 1)
* Richard Ruccolo - Bobby Casey, Claude's brother (2003, Season 1)
* Barry Bostwick - Max Damarius (2003, Season 1)
* Gordon Clapp - Detective Martin (2003, Season 2)
* Pamela Anderson - Vicki Devorski (2003, Season 2)
* Bill Walton - Himself (2004, Season 2)
* Lesley Ann Warren - Diane Steadman, Kipp's mom (2004, Season 2)
* Brooke Burke - Nurse Benson (2004, Season 2)
* James Belushi - Eddie Smirkoff (2004, Season 2)
* John McEnroe - Himself (2004, Season 2)
* Tori Spelling - Roxanne Fiedler (2004, Season 2)
* Lucy Lawless - Tracy Fletcher (2004, Season 3)
* Richard Kind - Lance Corcoran (2004, Season 3)
* John Di Maggio - Bartender (2004, Season 3)
* David Cassidy - Vince (2005, Season 3)
* Paula Abdul - Kathleen (2005, Season 3)
* Kimberly Williams - Laura (2005, Season 3)
* Regis Philbin - Xin Xao Pi (2005, Season 3)
* Joan Rivers - Louise (2005, Season 3)
* Paul DiMeo, Tracy Hutson & Michael Moloney - Themselves, as the cast of 'Extreme makeover' (2005, Season 3)
* Star Jones - Dr Curtis (2005, Season 3)
* Christopher Knight - Waiter (2005, Season 3)
* Tony Plana - Owl Inspector (Unaired episode, Season 4)

Episodes

:"See List of Less Than Perfect episodes"

U.S. ratings

References

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0320052/ Less Than Perfect's] entry in [http://www.imdb.com IMDb]
* [http://www.jumptheshark.com/forum/perfect/1178 Jump The Shark - Less Than Perfect]