''Listen Up'' 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 ne ...

television series created by Jeff Martin, that aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

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 Anthony Irwin Kornheiser (; born July 13, 1948) is an American television sports talk show host and former sportswriter and columnist. Kornheiser is best known for his endeavors in three forms of media: as a writer for ''The Washington Post'' from ...

. Its principal

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 ...

was

Jason Alexander Jay Scott Greenspan (born September 23, 1959), known professionally as Jason Alexander, is an American actor, comedian, host and director. An Emmy and Tony winner, he is best known for his role as George Costanza in the television series '' Se ...

, 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 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

as Tony Kleinman *

Wendy Makkena Wendy Rosenberg Makkena (born October 4, 1958) is an American actress best known for playing Sister Mary Robert in the film ''Sister Act'' (1992) and its sequel '' Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit'' (1993) and numerous other roles in film and tel ...

as Dana Kleinman *

Daniella Monet Daniella Monet Gardner (née Zuvic; ( ; born March 1, 1989) is an American actress and singer. She first earned recognition for playing Megan Kleinman on the CBS sitcom ''Listen Up!'' (2004–05) and Rebecca Martin on Nickelodeon's ''Zoey 101'' ...

as Megan Kleinman *

Will Rothhaar William Edward Lamar "Will" Rothhaar (born January 12, 1987) is an American actor. Early life Rothlaar was born in New York City, the son of Michael Rothhaar and Nancy Linehan Charles, both of whom are playwrights, actors and directors. He br ...

as Mickey Kleinman *

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'', which earned him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series a ...

as Bernie Widmer

Episodes

Reception

Critical response

Critical reaction was largely negative.

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

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

second banana A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act. Pairings are typically long-term, in some cases f ...

". A

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

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 company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' 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.

External links

References

{{reflist 2000s American sitcoms 2004 American television series debuts 2005 American television series endings CBS original programming English-language television shows Television series about television Television series by CBS Studios Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television series about radio