''Better with You'' is an American television

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

created by

Shana Goldberg-Meehan Shana Goldberg-Meehan is an American television producer and television writer. She was an executive producer of ''Friends'' and its spinoff ''Joey'', which she also co-created along with Scott Silveri, whom she married in 2006 (they met when bot ...

that aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

from September 22, 2010, to May 11, 2011. It stars JoAnna Garcia Swisher,

Jennifer Finnigan Jennifer Christina Finnigan (born August 22, 1979) is a Canadians, Canadian actress, best known for her role as Bridget Forrester in the American soap opera ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' from 2000 to 2004, for which she won three Daytime Emmy Aw ...

Josh Cooke Joshua Gregory Cooke is an American actor, songwriter, comedian and musician. Personal life Cooke was born in Philadelphia and attended Harriton High School, a small public high school in suburban Rosemont. He was a member of Harriton Theater ...

Jake Lacy Jake Lacy (born February 14, 1985) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Pete Miller on the ninth and final season of ''The Office (U.S. TV series), The Office'', as Fran Parker in the fourth and fifth seasons of HBO's ''Girls (T ...

Kurt Fuller Kurt Fuller (born September 16, 1953) is an American character actor. He has appeared in a number of television, film, and stage projects. He is best known for his roles in the films ''No Holds Barred'' and ''Ghostbusters II'' (both 1989), ''Way ...

, and

Debra Jo Rupp Debra Jo Rupp (born February 24, 1951) is an American actress best known for her roles as Kitty Forman on the Fox sitcom ''That '70s Show'' and its sequel series ''That '90s Show'', and Alice Knight-Buffay on the third through fifth seasons o ...

. On May 13, 2011, ABC cancelled the series after one season two days after the series finale aired.

Plot

The series revolved around three different relationships that are tightly intertwined in one family, as it follows a couple, Maddie and Ben, who had been dating for nine years and are happy just living together despite not taking the next step, marriage. Maddie's life is thrown for a loop when her younger sister Mia announces that she is pregnant and is about to marry Casey, a guy whom she has only known for seven weeks. To make matters worse, Maddie is stunned that their parents, who have been married for 35 years and have their issues, approve of the union, leaving Maddie and Ben questioning themselves about their own relationship. The story followed their lives and struggles.

Cast

* JoAnna Garcia Swisher as Mia Putney *

as Madeleine "Maddie" Putney *

as Ben Coles *

as Casey Marion Davenport *

as Joel Putney *

as Vicky Putney

Production

''Better with You'' was previously known as ''Better Together'', ''Couples'', ''Leapfrog'', and then briefly as ''That Couple''. On January 15, 2010, ABC

green-lit To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead". Film industry In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...

the

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

, which was written by ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...

'' writer and

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

Shana Goldberg-Meehan and directed by

James Burrows James Edward Burrows (born December 30, 1940), sometimes known as Jim "Jimmy" Burrows, is an American television director who has been working in television since the 1970s.Stated in interview on ''Inside the Actors Studio'' Burrows has direct ...

. The show was produced by Bonanza Productions, Silver and Gold Productions, and

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

. ''Better with You'' aired on Wednesday at 8:30 after '' The Middle'' and before ''

Modern Family ''Modern Family'' is an American family sitcom television series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan for the American Broadcasting Company. It ran for 11 seasons, from September 23, 2009, to April 8, 2020. It follows the lives of thr ...

''. On October 26, ABC announced that ''Better with You'' was picked up for a full 22-episode season.

Ben Kweller Benjamin Lev Kweller (born June 16, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. A former member of Radish, Kweller has released six solo albums and appeared on several collaborations. Early life Ben Kweller was born in Sa ...

wrote the theme song for the show. Country music singer

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire (born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music singer and actress. Dubbed " the Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Since the 1970s, McEntire has placed over 100 single ...

made an appearance in episode 8, "Better with Flirting", as wedding planner Lorraine Ashley. Series regular Joanna Garcia Swisher and McEntire both starred in the WB/CW series '' Reba''. ''Better with You'' marked the second time Josh Cooke and Jennifer Finnigan have co-starred on a sitcom, the first being the short-lived 2005 NBC series '' Committed''; it is also the second time that Cooke and Kurt Fuller co-starred in a sitcom, having previously starred in the short-lived 2006 ABC series ''

Big Day ''Big Day'', originally titled ''A Day in the Life'', is an American television sitcom that first aired on ABC from November 28, 2006, to January 30, 2007. The series was co-produced by Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa and directed by Michael Spil ...

''.

Episodes

International broadcasts

Reception

Critical reception

''Better with You'' received generally positive reviews and had a

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

Metascore of 64.

Ratings

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 1598876, Better with You 2010s American romantic comedy television series 2010s American sitcoms 2010 American television series debuts 2011 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows Television series about couples Television series about families Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows set in New York City