''Courting Alex'' is an American

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 ...

that aired on CBS from January 23 to March 29, 2006, and was a vehicle for

Jenna Elfman Jennifer Mary Elfman (née Butala, born 1971) is an American actress. She is best known for her leading role as Dharma on the ABC sitcom ''Dharma & Greg'' (1997–2002), for which she received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Televi ...

of ''

Dharma & Greg ''Dharma & Greg'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1997, until April 30, 2002, for 119 episodes over five seasons. The show starred Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson as Dharma and Greg Montgomery, a ...

'' fame. The series was based on the British sitcom ''

According to Bex ''According to Bex'' (originally titled ''Everything I Know About Men'') is a British sitcom that aired on BBC One in 2005. Starring Jessica Stevenson (now known as Jessica Hynes), it was written by Katie Douglas, Julia Barron and Fred Barron, ...

''. Elfman portrays Alex Rose, a successful, single attorney who works with her father Bill (

Dabney Coleman Dabney Wharton Coleman (born January 3, 1932) is an American actor. Coleman's best known films include ''9 to 5'' (1980), '' On Golden Pond'' (1981), ''Tootsie'' (1982), '' WarGames'' (1983), '' Cloak & Dagger'' (1984), ''The Beverly Hillbillies ...

) at his law firm. Alex struggles with dating while looking for love in a big city. Her father wants her to settle down with her coworker Stephen ( Josh Stamberg), a star lawyer at the firm who is smitten with her. She prefers Scott (

Josh Randall Joshua Reeve Randall (born January 27, 1972) is an American television actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. Mike Burton in the 2000–2004 NBC sitcom '' Ed'' and the recurring, later main role of Fire Captain Sean Beckett from 2021-2 ...

), the tavern owner she meets in the first episode, of whom her father doesn't approve. Alex relies on the advice of her assistant Molly (

Jillian Bach Jillian Bach (born April 27, 1973) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Irene in the ABC sitcom ''Two Guys and a Girl''. She was also series regular on the CBS sitcom ''Courting Alex''. She also guest starred in the telev ...

) and British neighbor Julian ( Hugh Bonneville). Comedian

Wayne Federman Wayne Federman (born June 22, 1959) is an Emmy Award winning American comedian, actor, author, writer, comedy historian, producer, and musician. He is noted for numerous stand-up comedy appearances in clubs, theaters, and on television; his book ...

had a recurring role as office

sycophant In modern English, sycophant denotes an "insincere flatterer" and is used to refer to someone practising sycophancy (i.e., insincere flattery to gain advantage). The word has its origin in the legal system of Classical Athens. Most legal cases o ...

, Johnson.

Cast

....Alex Rose *

....Bill Rose * Hugh Bonneville....Juilan *

....Scott * Josh Stamberg....Stephen *

....Molly

Show history

The show's working titles were ''Everything I Know about Men'' and ''The Jenna Elfman Show''. The stage for the office where Alex works is a redressed version of the Winfred-Louder Department Store set used by ''

The Drew Carey Show ''The Drew Carey Show'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 13, 1995 to September 8, 2004. Set in Cleveland, Ohio, the series revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionalize ...

''. Despite starting off with impressive numbers, ratings for ''Courting Alex'' fell hard after the show was moved to Wednesday nights. The show was not picked up for a second season in May 2006 when CBS canned ''Courting Alex'' and fellow freshman series '' Out of Practice''. The show's theme song was performed by

Nikka Costa Domenica "Nikka" Costa (born 4 June 1972) is an American singer whose music combines elements of pop, soul, and blues. She also had a career as a child singer starting in the early 1980s. She is the daughter of music producer Don Costa. Early ...

Episodes

Ratings

Based on the average total viewers per episode of ''Courting Alex'' on CBS: Despite a decent respectable rating average that passed the 10 million meter mark the show was not renewed for a second season and was canceled mid-way into the season.

Broadcast

Starting July 24 Paramount Comedy 1 in the UK started airing ''Courting Alex'' every Monday at 9pm in double bills. In 2007 Talpa in the Netherlands started airing ''Courting Alex'' every Sunday. For Thailand, ''Courting Alex'' was airing on True Series ( True Visions). In Serbia, ''Courting Alex'' was airing weeknights at 8pm on TV Avala. In Croatia, ''Courting Alex'' or ''Sve sto znam o muškarcima'' was airing weeknights at 1pm on Nova TV. In the UK, ''Courting Alex'' was airing weekdays at 9am on Paramount Comedy 1 from May 28, 2007. In Turkey, ''Courting Alex'' will be airing Monday, Wednesday and Friday from Sept 26 2007. In Australia, ''Courting Alex'' is currently aired on Channel Ten at midnight on Tuesdays. In Poland the show called simply ''Alex'' is frequently rerun on Comedy Central Poland and recently (June 2008) started on POLSAT TV on weekdays' mornings.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0463811 2000s American sitcoms 2006 American television series debuts 2006 American television series endings 2000s American legal television series CBS original programming English-language television shows American television series based on British television series Television series by ABC Studios Television series by CBS Studios Television shows set in New York City