ABC Mid-Season Pilot Review: Notes from the Underbelly - Premieres April 12; More 'Fresh' This Weekend on Nick at Nite

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

ABC Mid-Season Pilot Review: Notes from the Underbelly - Premieres April 12; More 'Fresh' This Weekend on Nick at Nite

Notes from the Underbelly - Regular Airings Wednesdays at 8:30PM ET/PT on ABC
Premieres Thursday, April 12th at 10 and 10:30PM ET/PT

Director/producer Barry Sonnenfeld and producers Kim and Eric Tannenbaum ("Two and a Half Men") bring a comic take on life's greatest adventure -- parenthood. This ensemble comedy proves that surviving the politics of pregnancy and maintaining your relationships with family and friends can be just as demanding as raising a child.

Andrew (Peter Cambor) and Lauren (Jennifer Westfeldt, "Kissing Jessica Stein") have just found out they're going to have a baby, and they're having a difficult time following rule number one -- keeping it a secret. Suddenly switching to decaf, becoming a teetotaler at cocktail parties, and going to the OBGYN are all difficult to keep from family and close friends.

Surrounding Andrew and Lauren as they embark on their journey is a close-knit circle of friends -- all of whom have varying opinions, experience and advice on starting a family. Julie (Melanie Paxson) and Eric (Sunkrish Bala), also in the family way for the first time, are the overly excited, slightly obnoxious expectant parents that Andrew and Lauren never want to become. Lauren's best friend, Cooper (Rachael Harris), is a divorce attorney and career woman who is skeptical of marriage altogether, and will do her best to keep Lauren from becoming another member of the "mommy cult." Andrew's buddy, Danny (Michael Weaver), is an immature child in his own right, whose chief concern is meeting hot women. Can Andrew and Lauren juggle the freedom and spontaneity of their old lives and the responsibility of their new ones? Will they be able to straddle the worlds of their carefree single friends and the ever-changing world of their married ones?

Andrew will narrate each episode, giving his wry and often sarcastic interpretation of the events that are going on around him. Lauren may be getting the stretch marks, but Andrew has to pretend that he doesn't notice them. Through it all, Andrew and Lauren come to learn that what's best for the child could be the easiest part... maintaining your relationships with family and friends might be the real challenge.

Based on Risa Green's novel of the same name, "Notes from the Underbelly" was created by Stacy Traub ("Kitchen Confidential.") Traub, Barry Sonnenfeld, Kim Tannenbaum and Eric Tannenbaum serve as executive producers. The series is from The Tannenbaum Company, Hill Three Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Cast: Jennifer Westfeldt as Lauren, Peter Cambor as Andrew, Michael Weaver as
Danny, Rachael Harris as Cooper, Melanie Paxson as Julie, and Sunkrish Bala as Eric

Read our review of the pilot and two other episodes here.

Discuss the show after you watch it on Thursday on our message board.

Related Links:

ABC.com Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

Notes from the Underbelly Photo Gallery

Turning to the news, yes, it is that time of the week again where Nick at Nite announces that they have changed their regular weekend line-up for the coming weekend. This time it will be three days of Fresh Prince with very early morning airings of Cosby Show, Growing Pains, Full House and Murphy Brown. to see the schedule for these three days click HERE. Hope you all enjoy all this Fresh Prince they keep airing. No Roseanne at least this weekend.

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Tuesday, August 9

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Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 8)

Tuesday, August 9

Ryan Reynolds (Two Guys and a Girl) - Catch Ryan on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Kaitin Olson (Hacks/It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia/The Mick) - Kaitlin appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Rob McElhenney (Mythic Quest/It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) - Rob guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (Never Have I Ever) - Maitreyi is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
D'Arcy Carden (Barry/The Good Place) - D'Arcy will be on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Chris Redd (Bust Down/Kenan/Disjointed) - Chris appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Rainn Wilson (The Office) - Rainn is a guest on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Idris Elba (Turn Up Charlie) - Idris will be on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Trevor Noah at 11pm. He talks about Beast on NBC's Today in the 10am hour and on E!'s Daily Pop at 11am.
Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project/The Office) - Mindy appears on Watch What Happens: Live at 10pm on Bravo. She talks about Never Have I Ever on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
Adam Pally (Indebted/Making History/The Mindy Project/Happy Endings) - Adam is a guest on Watch What Happens: Live at 10pm on Bravo.
David Duchovny (Californication) - David chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Raven-Symoné (Raven's Home/Hangin' with Mr. Cooper/The Cosby Show) - Raven-Symoné is a guest on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Katie Lowes (How We Roll) - Katie guest co-hosts LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Joel Kim Booster (Loot/Shrill/Sunnyside) - Joel appears on a repeat of The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Jay Pharoah (White Famous) and Guy Torry (Good News) - Jay and Guy talk about teaming up with an all-star comedic cast to pay tribute to Phat Tuesdays at the Comedy Store, now a Prime Video documentary, on a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) - Aubrey talks about Emily the Criminal on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Tisha Campbell (Uncoupled/Outmatched/Dr. Ken/Rita Rocks/My Wife and Kids/Martin) - Tisha talks about Netflix's Uncoupled on Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Sherri Shepherd (Mr. Iglesias/Trial & Error/Sherri/Less Than Perfect/Suddenly Susan) - Sherri will be on E!'s Daily Pop at 11am. She guest hosts a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Danica McKellar (The Wonder Years) - Danica appears on E!'s Daily Pop at 11am.
Jennette McCurdy (Sam & Cat/iCarly) - Jennette is a guest on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.