Emily's Reasons Why Not is an American television sitcom starring Heather Graham. The show, which was based on the novel of the same name by Carrie Gerlach, published in August 2004, was canceled by its broadcaster, ABC, after a single airing on January 9, 2006. The story revolves around Emily Sanders, a successful career woman in Los Angeles who has been unsuccessful dating. She seeks help from a therapist who recommends that Emily make a list of ten reasons why each of her dating relationships has failed.
| Emily's Reasons Why Not | |
|---|---|
 Khary Payton as Josh, Heather Graham as Emily, and Nadia Dajani as Reilly | |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Based on | Emily's Reasons Why Not by Carrie Gerlach |
| Developed by | Emily Kapnek |
| Starring | Heather Graham Nadia Dajani James Patrick Stuart |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 (5 unaired in US) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Vivian Cannon Emily Kapnek Gavin Polone Bill Diamond Robin Schiff Ali Adler |
| Producers | Carrie Gerlach Heather Graham Coral Hawthorne Michael Patrick Jann |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | Pariah Television Sony Pictures Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | January 9, 2006 |
The series premise centered on Emily (Graham), an editor of self-help books who is unable to find success in romance. In the premiere episode she ends a bad relationship and adopts a new rule for her romances: if she can list five reasons to break up with a guy, then she does so. Emily gets help from her friends, among them Josh, whose character is strongly based on gay stereotypes. The show was widely considered a less risqué copycat of Sex and the City.[1][2]
First episode
editIn the first episode, she is convinced that the man she was dating was gay when he was actually a devout Mormon practicing chastity before marriage. His open virginity is presented through gay stereotypes, and his preferred sport, Brazilian jiu-jitsu is described as "the gayest sport there is" by Emily's former boyfriend.[3]
Critical reception
editIt was reported that ABC committed to the show before seeing a script. Despite heavy promotion by both Sony Pictures Television and ABC, and a viewing average of 6.2 million viewers, the show was pulled after the first episode due to negative reception; production was stopped after filming six episodes. ABC was said to have spent millions on promotion, including airtime, billboards and radio ads, and considered Emily to be the "linchpin" of the network's post-football Monday-night schedule. The promotion was so heavy and the cancellation so abrupt that some magazines found themselves carrying cover stories about a canceled show.[citation needed] After viewing it, ABC's entertainment president suggested that they considered the show lackluster and unlikely to improve.[4] The New York Times attributed the cancellation in part to the extremely unappealing nature of the main character and the portrayal by Graham.[5]
In 2006, all six episodes of the show aired on Spain's pay-TV channel Cosmopolitan under the title Cinco razones (para no salir contigo) ("Five Reasons (to not go out with you)"),[6] on Sony Entertainment Television (Latin America),[7] on ORF1 in Austria, and on POP TV in Slovenia. It also aired on the cable/satellite channel FOX Life, in Japan in 2007, titled in Japanese as Emirī no Renai Baiburu (エミリーの恋愛バイブル, Emirī no Renai Baiburu, "Emily's Love Bible").
Cast
edit- Emily Sanders (Heather Graham)
- Reilly Harvey (Nadia Dajani)
- Midas O'Shay (James Patrick Stuart)
- Josh (Khary Payton)
- Glitter Cho (Smith Cho)
Episodes
edit| Episode # | Title[8] | Original airdate[9] |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | January 9, 2006 |
| 2 | "Why Not to Date Your Gynecologist" | Unaired |
| 3 | "Why Not to Cheat on Your Best Friend" | Unaired |
| 4 | "Why Not to Date a Twin" | Unaired |
| 5 | "Why Not to Hire a Cute Male Assistant" | Unaired |
| 6 | "Why Not to Invite Your Vacation Date Home" | Unaired |
Home media
editEmily's Reasons Why Not – The Complete Series was released on DVD on May 1, 2012. All six episodes produced were included in the set.[10]
References
edit- ^ "'Sex and the City' clones offer cheap thrills - The Boston Globe". Boston.com. 2006-01-09. Retrieved 2012-03-07.
- ^ Bornemann, Samantha. "Emily's Reasons Why Not < PopMatters". Popmatters.com. Retrieved 2012-03-07.
- ^ Politi, Daniel (9 January 2006). "Heather Report - By Dana Stevens - Slate Magazine". Slate. Slate.com. Retrieved 2012-10-15.
- ^ "Celebrity News, Entertainment News, Celebrity Gossip - E! Online UK". Eonline.com. Archived from the original on 2006-06-23. Retrieved 2012-03-07.
- ^ Stanley, Alessandra. "Friends Last, but Mr. Wrong Is Fungible." The New York Times, 13 July 2007.
- ^ "Cinco razones (para no salir contigo): - Cosmopolitan TV España". Cosmopolitan.es. Archived from the original on 2009-08-25. Retrieved 2012-03-07.
- ^ "Emily's Reasons Why Not (2006) : Episodes 2 to 6 being shown in LA". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
- ^ "Emily's Reasons Why Not". ctv.ca. Archived from the original on July 12, 2020. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
- ^ "Shows A-Z - emily's reasons why not on abc - TheFutonCritic.com". The Futon Critic. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
- ^ Iribe, Gerard. "Emily's Reasons Why Not: The Complete Series : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video".
External links
edit- Emily's Reasons Why Not at IMDb
- Emily's Reasons Why Not at Metacritic
- Washington Post article in which the programming chief at ABC discusses why the show was canceled and why it got as far as it did.
