The Paul Reiser Show

The Paul Reiser Show was an NBC network sitcom series created, developed and starring Paul Reiser.

The show aired from April 14 to April 22, 2011, lasting for only two episodes.

Plot

The series centered on Paul Reiser as a former television star who has not worked on a television series in several years.

While he has enjoyed spending quality time with his family during this break, Paul feels that he needs something more. Deciding to shake up his life a bit, he enlists his friends to help him find the next "big thing" to occupy his time.

Cast

• Paul Reiser as Paul Reiser
• Ben Shenkman as Jonathan
• Omid Djalili as Habib
• Duane Martin as Fernando
• Andrew Daly as Brad
• Amy Landecker as Claire
• Brock Waidmann as Zeke
• Koby Rouviere as Gabe
• Larry Dorf as Alex Gimple

Production

Paul Reiser wrote the spec script for the untitled project and first pitched the show to HBO, which turned it down.

In February of 2010, NBC ordered a pilot episode. In early March, reports were referring to the project as "Next."

Amy Landecker was the first actor cast in late March followed by Duane Martin in early April.

Brock Waidmann (an actor who has spina bifida) was selected to play the role of Reiser's son. Immediately after the audition, Reiser said, "I love this kid!" The next day, they called him to offer the part.

NBC announced a pick-up of the series in mid-May.

Also announced were the additions of Andrew Daly, Ben Shenkman, Brock Waidmann, Koby Rouviere and Omid Djalili to the cast.

Seven half-hour episodes were produced; all from scripts already written by Reiser and Jonathan Shapiro.

The series was introduced at the NBC upfront presentation with the new name "The Paul Reiser Show."

The show premiered on April 14, 2011, replacing "Perfect Couples."

Reception

"The Paul Reiser Show" did not receive good ratings. The premiere episode received ratings lower than those for the premiere of "Perfect Couples" (the show it had replaced).

Reuters reported that the show's premiere was "NBC's lowest rating ever for an in-season comedy premiere".

The second episode's ratings dropped even further and the show was canceled shortly after. Amy Landecker said she first learned about the show's demise by doing an Internet search before getting an email confirming its official cancellation hours later.

The show was also negatively reviewed, with Metacritic reporting a rating of only 38 out of 100.

Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club gave the show a D+, writing that it was best summarized by the word "complacent" and that "everything about it feels off-putting and weird". He compared it unfavorably to "Curb Your Enthusiasm", calling it a "weird copycat" that "takes most of the trappings of Curb but misses almost all of the soul."

Alan Pergament, the TV critic for The Buffalo News, also drew comparisons to "Curb Your Enthusiasm "(going so far as to call it a "direct steal") and to the drama "Men of a Certain Age", but noted that Reiser's "good guy" personality was not as good a fit for the format as Larry David's arrogance was for "Curb".