October 08, 2005

TV: Hot Properties

Another example -- a relatively good one, this time -- of the influence of Sex and the City. Again we have four sexy women, tossing witty quips back and forth, constantly chatting about sex and the men in their lives.

This time, the setting is a real estate agency run by Ava (Gail O'Grady), who's in her early 40s and struggling to have a child with her 25-year-old husband (who thinks she's in her early 30s). Her partners are Chloe (Nicole Sullivan), a self-help-book addict who has no problem finding men for the evening, but can't find one who'll call back the next day, and Lola (Sofia Vergara, going way overboard on the Charo-esque Latin bombshell routine), recently divorced after a ten-year marriage to a husband she never realized was gay.

There are a pair of doctors with offices down the hall -- sweet-natured therapist Sellers Boyd (Evan Handler) and cocky plastic surgeon Charlie Thorpe (Stephen Dunham) -- and everyone shares the services of receptionist Mary (Amy Hall, sitting at a desk that reminds us of Marcia Wallace in The Bob Newhart Show).

And finally, there's Emerson (Christina Moore), who arrives as a client, looking for a home for herself and her fiancee; Ava and Chloe both recognize him from one-night stands, but Emerson believes he's a virgin. The first episode ends with Emerson and the realtors hanging out at a local bar, and since she's among the show's regulars, I would assume that Emerson will be joining the firm.

The cast is very good, and there are enough funny lines to make this a reasonably entertaining half-hour. It feels like a comfortable fit with its lead-in, Hope & Faith, and while it's not going to be a classic sitcom for the ages, it's better than most.

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