Production history
Conception
It was reported in January 2007 that Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton were in talks to lead the cast of the series, originally titled Action News, which only had a script commitment with 20th Century Fox Television at the time.[11] The script was reportedly a hot commodity with numerous networks interested before Fox outbid the competition and gave it a blind thirteen-episode commitment in February 2007. Upon its pickup, it also became Levitan and Lloyd's first project under their production banner, Levitan-Lloyd Productions. Grammer and Heaton were also confirmed to star in the series in the same month.[12] It was renamed Back to You in April 2007 because Pittsburgh has a real life Channel 4 Action News.[13] (The show was originally to be set in Buffalo, New York, which, at least in name, did not have an Action News station, but Lloyd felt that having a major-market news personality fall from Los Angeles (market #2) to Buffalo (market #49) was implausible. This was despite the fact that several prominent Los Angeles news anchors, including John Beard, Nick Clooney, Maria Genero, Kevin O'Connell, Brian Kahle, and John Stehlin have all moved from the Los Angeles to the Buffalo markets; all but Clooney and Stehlin remain there to this day, though Kahle has since died, and Stehlin has moved to an even smaller market in neighboring Erie, Pennsylvania.) The series was officially greenlit on May 11, 2007.[14] James Burrows, who had directed all the episodes of the show joined the staff as an executive producer in June 2007.[15]
Produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Levitan-Lloyd Productions, the series premiered on September 19, 2007.[16] The show aired on Wednesday nights at 8:30/7:30c on Fox, leading out 'Til Death, which features Heaton's former Everybody Loves Raymond co-star, Brad Garrett. The first episode rated a promising 9.44 million viewers for Fox.[14]
On October 24, 2007, the show was picked up for an additional 11 episodes, bringing the total number of episodes to 24.[17]
Also, despite the show's cancellation, and no guarantee of its renewal, Channel 4 in the United Kingdom picked up the show.[18] The series premiered in the UK on Wednesday, June 11, 2008, on More4 at 9.30 pm. It then moved onto Channel 4 on early morning weekdays comedy slot at 8:00.
Production notes
Back to You was filmed at 20th Century Fox Studios in Los Angeles.[19]
Casting
After the first two leads were found, Paul Campbell and Aimee Garcia were originally cast as Ryan Church and Montana Diaz Herrera respectively in February 2007 but the roles were re-cast in April 2007 with Josh Gad and Ayda Field replacing them.[13][20] Fred Willard was also cast as Marsh McGinley in February.[20] Casting continued throughout March with Ty Burrell and Laura Marano landing the last two regular spots in the series.[21][22] There was also talk of casting Sung Hi Lee in a recurring role as Chuck Darling's love interest, but the producers decided in April to go in a different direction.[23] She did appear in the Pilot.
The role of Gracie Carr was re-cast starting the tenth episode, "The Wall of Fame", and was played by Lily Jackson. Ayda Field was also dropped from the show after the tenth episode. The background used for Ayda Field's credit in the title sequence, a weather map of the United States, was still briefly shown but her image was replaced by a silhouette of a man.
Writers' strike
Production on the show was halted on November 6, 2007, due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.[24]
The show went on hiatus on November 14 but returned on Tuesday, February 26, 2008, at 9:30/8:30c. It aired a new episode that night and another on Wednesday, February 27, 2008, the following day, and new episodes began airing weekly, starting Wednesday April 16, 2008. On this day, Back to You moved to its new time slot at 8:00/7:00c, following 'Til Death, and replacing The Moment of Truth.[25]
Cancellation
Despite having better ratings and reviews than its comedy companion 'Til Death,[citation needed] the series was not renewed by the network on May 9, 2008, while 'Til Death was renewed.[26]
The comedy was shopped around for a new home, at Grammer's request, and CBS was interested in picking up the comedy for a second season. CBS was also interested in using the comedy to open an extension night of comedy beyond Monday night, giving the series as a solid anchor for the extension.
However, Grammer was already searching for a new show and ABC had given him some new projects (one was an overseas remake of Roman's Empire, which failed to pick up, and Hank, which premiered Fall 2009, but was cancelled after five episodes). Heaton also was interested in an ABC project (The Middle, which also premiered in fall 2009 and lasted for nine seasons, until May 2018). As a result, Back to You was never renewed.
In a somewhat related note, the creators of the show, Lloyd & Levitan, would go on to create another fall 2009 series for ABC, Modern Family, which features fellow Back to You star Burrell, as well as Willard as Burrell's character's father, and even airs after The Middle (which aired after Hank from September–November 2009). When originally pitching their show, Lloyd & Levitan never offered Modern Family to Fox because of their issues dealing with that network over Back to You.[27]
Reception
Critical reaction
Back to You received generally mixed reviews, receiving a rating of 58 from Metacritic.[28]
- I'd rather just watch Grammer and Heaton trade barbs in the newsroom. – Entertainment Weekly[28]
- Fox's Back to You is back to TV comedy basics: multiple cameras, live audiences but, mostly, laughs. — Los Angeles Times[28]
- Grammer and Heaton slip easily into characters who won't be easily mistaken for Frasier Crane or Debra Barone, the writing's professional, the supporting cast dependable (and in the case of Fred Willard, another Raymond veteran, dependably hilarious). – Philadelphia Daily News[28]
- You have to admire Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton for holding up their end of the bargain, even if the material in their show, Back to You, is such a drop from "Frasier" and "Everybody Loves Raymond". – The Philadelphia Inquirer[28]
- The pilot's plot leads them in a direction where "this just in" becomes an obvious sexual metaphor — some of it is funny, but there's just too much. – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette[28]
- Absolutely nothing about it is original or seeks to transform the half-hour genre. Still, the fact that it is executed by sure-footed comedy veterans more than makes up for the sin of familiarity. – Seattle Post-Intelligencer[28]
Controversy
The episode "Something's Up There" (aired November 14, 2007) involved Marsh trying to convince the show's lone Polish-American character, Gary, to go bowling after work by saying: "Come on, it's in your blood, like kielbasa and collaborating with the Nazis." Fox later apologized on November 20, 2007. They vowed never to air the line of dialogue again in repeats and/or syndicated broadcasts. Fox stated that, "The line was delivered by a character known for being ignorant, clueless, and for saying outlandish things. Allowing the line to remain in the show, however, demonstrated poor judgment, and we apologize to anyone who was offended."[29]
