Catherine_Grace_Zeh
"LESS THAN PERFECT," in my opinion, is an absolute ABC classic! I haven't seen every episode, but I still enjoyed it. It's hard to say which episode was my favorite. However, I think it was always funny when a mishap occurred. I always laughed at that. Despite the fact that it was a short-lived series, it would have been nice if all of the main characters had stayed with the show throughout its entire run. It seems that no one stays with a show throughout its entire run. Everyone always gave a good performance, the production design was spectacular, the costumes were well-designed, and the writing was always very strong. In conclusion, I hope someone brings it back on the air for fans of the show to see.
drwordsmith
I started watching this when it first appeared on ABC1 a few years ago, and took an instant liking to it. The mix of characters included Claude Casey a bubbly temp (Sara Rue, outstanding), her anchorman boss Will Butler (Eric Roberts, unsure of his role but a strong character and much funnier than he believes), bitchy researcher Lydia Weston (Andrea Parker - who's performance throughout this series has been exceptional) and her best friend Kipp (Zachary Levi, who plays the character perfectly), plus Claude's friends Ramona (Sherri Shepherd, a strongly acted character) and Owen Kronsky (Andy Dick, too annoying for me). The first series, though slow to get started, featured some truly stunning episodes that are more worthy than anything 'Friends' or 'Will and Grace' (two of my favourite TV shows) could write. Episodes such as 'Ice cream with Lydia' where Claude thinks she is on a date with Will only to find out its a business lunch, 'One office party too many' which features great turns from Lydia and Kipp, and 'A Little Love for Lydia', where Lydia goes on a date with Claude's brother, made the series a great hit. By the time the first series had finished I could not wait for more episodes, and series 2 did not disappoint me, with classics such as 'New York evening', which I must admit rips off an old friends episode 'The one with Monica's thunder', 'What about that!', where Will forces Lydia and Claude to work together, and 'The Pimp hat', where all the 22nd floor staff set each other up on dates. However, by series 2 there were already problems appearing in the series, a decreased role for Eric Roberts meant that a lot of the magic of the first series was gone, as his character Will Butler been one of the highlights of the first series, and new characters such as Carl (Will Sasso) and Jebb (Patrick Warburton) were annoying and un-likable. Add in the idea off Jebb and Lydia's relationship, which was funny on occasion such as in 'The Pimp hat', but generally took away a lot of Lydia's humour, and you're left with a less than perfect second season, but still far better than many of the things out there. The Third season carried on where the second season left off, with the series now having found its feet. Again there are some stand-out episodes, such as 'Claude's 15 minutes of Christmas', a perfect Christmas episode in which Claude encounters some problems organising the GNB on air holiday greeting, 'Get away', where Claude, Charlie, Lydia and Jebb must share a holiday lodge, and 'Pre-Wedded Bliss' where Jebb and Lydia fall out over pre-nuptial agreements. The series did however feel like a re-hash of the second series and lacked the magic that made the first series so special. The fourth series of 'Less than perfect' has yet to be aired in the UK, which will be the final series of the show. Only 13 episodes were made, of which 5 episodes were aired in the USA, the rest have been aired internationally but not yet in the UK. Although the program was one of the strongest on TV, it had done all it could do and it was time to put it to rest, meaning I will look forward to the fourth season when and if it comes out over here (despite the fact that Claude has now become 'slim', defeating the premise of the show, and Will is no longer in it), but I don't hold any grudges for it finishing. 'Less than Perfect' maintained a high standard of television throughout its run and I will always remember it for being witty, likable and touching. There are moments in this program where it is far more than just another sit-com. Some of the transition scenes showing New York, some of the music and some of the camera shots in the program are just amazing. I only hope now that the fourth season is shown here in the UK soon, and that all the series are released on DVD in the near future, as I have no doubt I will be watching this program 20 years into the future.
Ron Broadfoot
Most of the IMDB user reviews for this show seem to be positive, but I have to disagree. I find many of the characters on this show very snobby and unlikeable. The only characters who seem that interesting are the ones played by Eric Roberts and Andy Dick.Sadly, these people just seem to portray what a lot of people are like today.Wake me up when you put on a show with people I can sympathize with.Rating: *1/2
