The cast of Grosse Pointe
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Grosse Misconduct
This article by Matt Roush is from TV Guide Online (Today's TV) and is Copyright © 2002 TV Guide Magazine Group, Inc
Forget all those NBC promos touting the brain-dead Titans as this fall's "guilty pleasure." That title more appropriately, and merrily, belongs to WB's Grosse Pointe, which mocks the kind of show Titans aspires to be: dumb junk, atrociously acted.
Actually, Grosse Pointe's broad target is the genre of vapid high-school teen soap, immortalized by Fox's finally defunct Beverly Hills, 90210 � which, not coincidentally, was created by Darren Star, who went on to concoct Melrose Place and Sex and the City before turning his wicked gaze to Grosse Pointe.
A Clearasil version of All About Eve, this clever show-within-a-show satire reveals the backstabbing shenanigans, the brewing sexual intrigues and the general state of hack cluelessness that exists behind the scenes of a fictional prime-time soap where pandering and playing dumb are the top priorities.
Even casual fans of 90210 and its ilk will recognize the tabloid inspirations for characters like the tyrannical prima donna Hunter Fallow (think Shannen Doherty), played to the petulant hilt by newcomer Irene Molloy, or insecure would-be sexpot Marcy Sternfeld (think Tori Spelling), rendered with exquisite pathos by Lindsay Sloane (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch).
Sloane's character made news over the summer when Aaron Spelling, producer of such WB hits as 7th Heaven and Charmed (starring Doherty), complained to the network brass about his and Tori's dismay over certain aspects of Marcy's character: her appearance, her eating disorder and the nepotism that landed her the job. To Star's annoyance, WB insisted changes be made, and while the character has been altered (her hair color digitally), she's still achingly funny as Hunter feeds her paranoia when a new ingenue (Bonnie Somerville) joins the cast.
Thankfully, the rest of the biting humor remains intact (though there's cause to worry if WB fails to stand by Star the next time some big shot gets upset by the stinging parody).
Grosse Pointe is awash in great running gags: a stud (think Luke Perry) whose greatest scandal is his alarmingly receding hairline; the show's closeted father figure (best not to imagine anyone here), who secretly lusts for the dim-bulb hunk playing his son.
This is all very amusing stuff, with nifty inside jokes (the dishy producers, played by William Ragsdale and Joely Fisher, trashing one of their network bosses as "the guy who told Felicity to cut her hair"). But unlike Fox's Action, last fall's much-heralded and mean-spirited flop about the dark side of the movie business, Grosse Pointe depicts even its bitchiest characters as lovable neurotics, not as irredeemably corrupt villains in a bleak, mean company town.
If the fictional Grosse Pointe, with its corny melodramatics, were actually on TV, it would probably be hooted off the screen (as I predict Titans will be by all but the most hopeless Dynasty camp follower). The real Grosse Pointe, however, has the makings of a triumph � and is perfectly programmed between ABC transplant Sabrina and sophomore spoof Popular as part of WB's new Friday lineup, which picks up where ABC's now-disbanded "T.G.I.F." franchise left off.
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