''Listen Up'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

television series created by Jeff Martin, that aired on CBS from September 20, 2004, until April 25, 2005. The sitcom was based loosely on the life and exploits of the popular sportswriter and sports-media personality Tony Kornheiser. Its principal

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

was

Jason Alexander Jay Scott Greenspan (born September 23, 1959), known professionally as Jason Alexander, is an American actor and comedian. Over the course of his career he has received an Emmy Award and a Tony Award as well as nominations for four Golden Globe ...

, who was also the lead actor. Despite decent-to-good ratings, the show was canceled by CBS on May 18, 2005; "rising production costs" was the major reason officially given for the cancellation.

Premise

Tony Kleinman is a

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

based sports show host whose sidekick is Bernie Widmer, a former NFL player; together they host the TV show ''Listen Up''. While Tony does talk about sports on the show and in his newspaper column, he strays away occasionally to talk about the daily exploits of his family: his wife, Dana, a fund-raiser coordinator; his son, Mickey, a 15-year-old golf prodigy, and Megan, his 14-year-old, know-it-all, smart-mouthed, soccer-playing daughter.

Cast and characters

as Tony Kleinman, a co-host of ''Listen Up'', a sports talk show * Wendy Makkena as Dana Kleinman, an administrator at Philadelphia Zoo * Daniella Monet as Megan Kleinman, the teenage daughter of Tony * Will Rothhaar as Mickey Kleinman, the teenage son of Tony *

Malcolm-Jamal Warner Malcolm-Jamal Warner (born August 18, 1970) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for his role as Theodore Huxtable on the NBC sitcom ''The Cosby Show'' (1984–1992), which earned him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a ...

as Bernie Widmer, a retired NFL player and a co-host of ''Listen Up''

Episodes

Reception

Critical response

Critical reaction was largely negative. ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

s Robert Bianco wrote that the show makes the "mistake of trying to build a star vehicle around a second banana". A ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' review called it "a rickety vehicle for Jason Alexander". Critics disagreed on the supporting cast – while ''USA Today'' noted, "When 'Listen Up' focuses on its supporting cast, the show works", ''The New York Times'' referred to a "stiff supporting cast". Matt Rouse of ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' wrote, "Forget about the 'Seinfeld' curse, this is just mediocre material and bad casting."

Ratings

The premiere episode drew 11.8 million viewers, while the final episode drew 8.9 million viewers.

References

External links

* * {{Epguides, ListenUp, Listen Up 2000s American multi-camera sitcoms 2004 American television series debuts 2005 American television series endings American English-language television shows Television series about television Television series by CBS Studios Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television series about radio CBS sitcoms