Accidentally on Purpose (TV series)
| Accidentally on Purpose | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Situation comedy |
| Written by | Mary F. Pols (book) |
| Starring | Jenna Elfman Jon Foster Ashley Jensen Nicolas Wright Grant Show Lennon Parham |
| Theme music composer | David Fagin |
| Opening theme | "Birds of a Feather" by The Rosenbergs |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 18 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Claudia Lonow Gail Berman Lloyd Braun Eugene Stein |
| Camera setup | Film; Multi-camera |
| Running time | 23 minutes |
| Production company(s) | CBS Productions |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Original run | September 21, 2009 – April 21, 2010 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Based on the book by Mary F. Pols |
Accidentally on Purpose is an American television situation comedy series starring Jenna Elfman. It first aired on CBS during the 2009–10 season.[1] and was produced by the CBS in-house production arm. The show is based on the book of the same name (ISBN 0061256927) by Mary F. Pols.[2]
On May 18, 2010, CBS cancelled the series after only one season.
Plot
Accidentally on Purpose follows Billie (Jenna Elfman), a San Francisco movie critic in her 30s. Billie meets Zack (Jon Foster), an aspiring chef in his 20s, at a local bar and they have a one-night stand. She soon finds out that she is pregnant, and decides to keep the baby. She must simultaneously deal with her boss and ex-boyfriend, James (Grant Show), who finds himself jealous of Zack. Before the story began, she had hoped that James would ask her to marry him, but he told her that he was not ready because he was married once before.
Thanks to this unexpected arrival, Billie and Zack have agreed to live together platonically, since the only place that Zack has called home was his van. While Billie receives encouragement and advice from her alcoholic girl best friend Olivia (Ashley Jensen) and her conventional, younger, married sister Abby (Lennon Parham), she also has to deal with Zack's freeloading friend Davis (Nicolas Wright), among others, when they start turning her place into a frat house, leaving Billie to question whether she is living with a boyfriend, a roommate, or a second child to raise.[3]
Theme song
The theme song for the show is "Birds of a Feather", written by David Fagin of the indie-rock band The Rosenbergs.[4] The song is on their album Department Store Girl.[5]
History
On November 3, 2009, CBS ordered an additional five episodes of the series, bringing the total to 18.[6] In early 2010 CBS moved Accidentally on Purpose to Wednesday nights from Mondays, to accommodate the midseason return of Rules of Engagement and the cancellation of Gary Unmarried. However, after the ratings slipped CBS elected not to renew the series and on May 18, 2010, made the cancellation official; the cancellation was part of CBS' decision to eliminate all of its Wednesday night comedies in favor of trying a Thursday-night block.
Critical reception
Accidentally On Purpose received mixed reviews, scoring a 49/100 on Metacritic, while scoring a 6.2/10 with viewers.[7]The New York Times, in a review of the show's first episode, called Grant Show's performance "graceful" and said Elfman is as "funny as the script allows, in that broad, robo-comic way you may remember from Dharma & Greg."[8]
The series had an average of eight million viewers per episode while airing on Mondays after How I Met Your Mother, but fell to an average of 5.5 million of viewers per episode while airing on Wednesdays after The New Adventures of Old Christine,[original research?] which was also canceled in 2010.[9]
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Episodes
| # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | Pamela Fryman | Claudia Lonow | September 21, 2009 | 8.91[10] |
| Billie (Jenna Elfman) meets Zack (Jon Foster), an aspiring chef in his 20s, at a local bar and they have a one-night stand at his friend's apartment. She soon finds out that she is pregnant from the fling and decides to keep the baby. She must simultaneously deal with her boss and ex-boyfriend, James, who finds himself jealous of Zack. Before the story began, she had hoped that James would ask her to marry him, but he told her that he was not ready because he was married once before. Thanks to this unexpected arrival, Billie and Zack have agreed to live together platonically, since the only place that Zack has called home was his van. While Billie receives encouragement and advice from her party girl best friend (and fellow journalist) Olivia (Ashley Jensen) and her conventional, younger, married sister Abby (Lennon Parham), she also has to deal with Zack's freeloading friend Davis (Nicolas Wright), among others, when they start turning her place into a frat house, leaving Billie to question whether she is living with a boyfriend, a roommate, or if she just has a second child to raise. | |||||
| 2 | "Memento" | Pamela Fryman | Gregg Mettler | September 28, 2009 | 8.02 |
| While snooping through Zack's belongings Billie discovers a note addressed to her, that he never finished writing and sets out to find what Zack is hiding. | |||||
| 3 | "One Night Stand" | Ted Wass | Vince Calandra | October 5, 2009 | 7.17[11] |
| Billie's pregnancy causes her breasts to increase in size which causes other guys to flirt with her. Meanwhile, Zack refuses to have sex with Billie after she tries to have sex with him. | |||||
| 4 | "The Date" | John Pasquin | Cynthia Greenburg | October 12, 2009 | 7.73[12] |
| Billie and Zack discuss their feelings on dating and agree to see other people, however, Billie's pregnancy gets in the way of any potential love connections. | |||||
| 5 | "The Love Guru" | Andrew D. Weyman | Bill Kunstler & Alison McDonald | October 19, 2009 | 8.26[13] |
| Billie tries to live vicariously through Zack and Davis by offering up dating advice to them. However, things take a turn, when the objects of the boys' affection reveal their true intentions. | |||||
| 6 | "Fight Club" | Andrew D. Weyman | Bill Kunstler | November 2, 2009 | 8.08[14] |
| Billie and Zack have their first big argument after Zack tries to surprise Billie by installing a low flow toilet. | |||||
| 7 | "The Godfather" | David Trainer | Vince Calandra & Cynthia Greenburg | November 9, 2009 | 7.89[15] |
| Billie unintentionally causes Abby and Nick to break up when she asks them to be Godparents. However, after a fun night on the town with Davis goes too far, Billie must stop Abby before she does something she will regret. | |||||
| 8 | "The Third Man" | John Pasquin | Mike Dieffenbach | November 16, 2009 | 7.27 |
| When Billie starts dating a colleague from her newspaper, Zack is unable to hide his jealousy. | |||||
| 9 | "Working Girl" | Ted Wass | Andrea Abbate & David Holden | November 23, 2009 | 7.89[16] |
| Billie is threatened when James hires another film critic at the paper and sets out to prove how valuable she is. | |||||
| 10 | "Class" | Barnet Kellman | Franklyn Hardy & Shane Kosakowski | December 7, 2009 | 7.91[17] |
| When Billie and Zack take instructional parenting classes separately due to their schedules. Zach intends to meet some other fathers as most of his other friends are not at this stage of life yet, but instead makes friends with a gay female couple. Billie goes with Olivia and Abby. However, the course quickly becomes a competition when Abby outshines Billie at all the tasks. | |||||
| 11 | "It Happened One Christmas" | Gail Mancuso | Gregg Mettler & Claudia Lonow | December 14, 2009 | 8.81[18] |
| Worried that she'll ruin Christmas, as she has in previous years, Billie tries to hide from her parents the fact that Zack is living with her. Zach spends Christmas with Davis and he realises that Billie is the coolest women he's ever met. When he returns to the apartment he proposes to Billie. Meanwhile, Abby's husband, Nick, tries to impress their father. | |||||
| 12 | "The Odd Couples" | Ted Wass | Mike Dieffenbach & David Holden | January 11, 2010 | 8.43[19] |
| Zach tried to get along with Nick, but he is too strange for him. When Billie tells Abby their Zach doesn't like Nick, they fight and Abby tells Billie to arrange her own baby shower. Davis pretends to be Dave Grohl's younger brother to impress a girl. Billie and Zach discover the gender of their child. | |||||
| 13 | "The Rock" | Andrew D. Weyman | Alison McDonald & Andrea Abbate | January 18, 2010 | 9.56[20] |
| Billie and Sully work on a story together which leads to a surprising discovery about the paper. Zack begins a new business venture with Davis as his partner. | |||||
| 14 | "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman" | Ted Wass | Claudia Lonow & Bill Kunstler & David Holden | February 1, 2010 | 8.42 |
| Billie tries to manipulate Zack so he does more around the apartment, but her plan backfires when Zack ends up creating a new mess each time he cleans one. Meanwhile, Davis gets a job at a gay bar to earn extra cash. | |||||
| 15 | "Back to School" | David Trainer | Franklin Hardy & Shane Kosakowski | February 8, 2010 | 9.10[21] |
| Billie invites herself to Zack's high school reunion but worries that she can't compete with his hot, ex-girlfriend in her pregnant state. Meanwhile, Olivia helps Abby host a party where they try to sell Abby's miracle youth juice. | |||||
| 16 | "Face Off" | Ted Wass | Jenn Lloyd & Kevin Bonani | April 7, 2010 | 6.03[22] |
| Zack is upset when Billie hires a baby nurse without consulting him. Meanwhile, Davis and Ryan are faced with a difficult choice when they learn surprising news about the nurse. | |||||
| 17 | "Speed (Part 1)" | Ted Wass | David Rosenthal & DJ Nash | April 14, 2010 | 5.90[23] |
| Billie pretends to go into labor to save Zack from getting a traffic ticket after they're pulled over for speeding. Meanwhile, Olivia and Davis go shopping for a baby gift. | |||||
| 18 | "Speed (Part 2)" | Ted Wass | Claudia Lonow | April 21, 2010 | 5.22[24] |
| After faking labor pains to get Zack out of a speeding ticket, Billie goes into labor – for real. Unfortunately, things take a turn when Zack gets busted by the officer they had initially lied to and is hauled off to the police station. In the end, Billie gives birth to her baby, Henry, and agrees to marry Zack. | |||||
International releases
| Country / Region | Network(s) | Premiere |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | Citytv[25] | September 2009 |
| Croatia | Fox Life | |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Fox Life | |
| Australia | Network Ten | December 2009 |
| The Netherlands | NET 5 | June 8, 2010 |
| Ireland | TV3 Ireland | July 3, 2010 |
| Brazil | Sony Entertainment Television | February 4, 2010 |
| Latin America | Sony Entertainment Television | March 4, 2010 |
| United Kingdom | E4 | June 17, 2010 |
| Philippines | Studio 23, Velvet, STAR World | TBA, June 4, 2010, June 7, 2010 |
| Indonesia | STAR World | November 2012 |
| Israel | Yes Stars Comedy | April 2010 |
| Italy | Fox Life (Italy) | March 11, 2011 |
| Macedonia | Fox Life | September 2010 |
| Japan | Fox Life | April 2010 |
| Poland | Comedy Central | May 17, 2010 |
| Portugal | Fox Life, Fox Life HD | June 27, 2010 |
| New Zealand | C4 | August 3, 2010 |
| Slovenia | TV3 Slovenia | October 18, 2010 (Weekdays at 6pm) |
| Denmark | TV 2 Zulu | December 2010 |
| Norway | TV 2 | December 29, 2010 |
| Slovakia | TV JOJ | February 20, 2011 |
| South Africa | SABC 3 | June 27, 2011 |
| Greece | Skai TV | September 13, 2011 |
| Finland | Nelonen | January 6, 2012 |
| Serbia | B92 and Fox Life |
References
- ^ Matt Mitovich (June 24, 2009). "Fall TV: CBS Announces Premiere Dates". TV Guide Online. Archived from the original on 26 June 2009. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
- ^ Carter, Bill (May 18, 2009). "Upfronts: CBS to Add Six Shows". The New York Times.
- ^ "Breaking News – CBS Confirms Six Newcomers". TheFutonCritic.com. 2009-05-18. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ Department Store Girl at the Rosenbergs' website
- ^ Schneider, Michael (November 3, 2009). "CBS picks up more 'Purpose'". Variety.
- ^ "Accidentally on Purpose – Season 1 Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
- ^ Hale, Mike (September 20, 2009). "Older Woman, Younger Man and Baby Makes Three". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
- ^ Exton, Emily (2010-05-18). "Breaking: CBS cancels 'Ghost Whisperer' and 'Old Christine' | Inside TV | EW.com". Insidetv.ew.com. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
- ^ "CBS wins Premiere week in viewers and adults 25–54". CBS PressExpress. 2009-09-29. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
- ^ Monday night broadcast national final Nielsen numbers. Tv by the Numbers October 6, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ CBS wins Monday in Key demos. CBS PressExpress October 13, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ The Biggest Bang Yet!. Tv by the Numbers October 20, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ Monday Broadcast Finals: Castle doesn’t drop; Heroes, Trauma do. Tv by the Numbers November 3, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ Monday Finals: House, Gossip Girl, Big Bang and others up, Castle, DWTS down a tick. Tv by the Numbers November 10, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ Monday Broadcast Finals: Castle holds season-high adults 18–49 rating. Tv by the Numbers November 24, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ Monday Finals: Big Bang Theory drops a tick, Castle drops two ticks. Tv by the Numbers December 8, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ Monday Broadcast Finals: CBS 8pm Hour Loses a Bit, “Find My Family” drops. Tv by the Numbers December 15, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ Monday Broadcast Finals Plus Chuck Quarter Hour Detail. Tv by the Numbers January 12, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ "Two and a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory" are the week's top two scripted programs in viewers and key demographics. CBS PressExpress January 26, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ Super Night for CBS's comedy power hour. CBS PressExpress February 9, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ Wednesday Finals: “CSI: NY” Dips Further + “South Park,” “In Plain Sight” and More. Tv by the Numbers April 8, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ Wednesday Broadcast Finals: The Middle, Modern Family, Cougar Town Adjusted Up; Ugly Betty Down. Tv by the Numbers April 15, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ Wednesday Broadcast Finals: Idol, L&O: SVU Adjusted Up; Accidentally On Purpose Down. Tv by the Numbers April 22, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ k. ip, j.leung – copyright 2008 – Rogers Media Inc. "No Station Selected Show – Rogers TV Sales". Rogerstvsales.ca. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
External links
- Accidentally on Purpose at CBS's website
- Mary F. Pols' website
- Accidentally on Purpose at the Internet Movie Database
- Accidentally on Purpose at TV.com
