Baby Boom

Using film instead of videotape gives Baby Boom an elegant, cinematic texture that visually separates it from most TV comedies. But it's the smart, amusing script by the co-executive producers, Shyer's direction (the pilot is so fast-paced that you get the feeling he used a bullwhip) and Jackson's appealing mix of ambition and vulnerability as J.C. Wiattthat give this early sampling of Baby Boom its main charm.

And I like programs which show women as competent, caring, intelligent individuals. Young girls who start watching this program Saturday night are more fortunate than those in the 1970s who grew up with "Charlie's Angels" as role models. [9 Sept 1988, p.13]

Unlike most series based on movies, this one has a great advantage. It's written and produced by the people who made the original, the husband-wife team of Charles Shyer and Nancy Meyers...So the writing and the pacing are crisp and quick, reflecting the confidence and experience of the creators. [10 Sept 1998, p.D-1]

An amiable, pleasant piece...While the film was manipulative and filled with obvious humor, Keaton managed somehow to transcend the commonplace, but Jackson just doesn't have the same comedic timing or the ability to juxtapose artfully toughness and cuteness. [9 Sept 1988, p.C2]

Like the people whose story it tells -- those bright, over- educated, social-climbing, New York killer careerists and consumerists (I'm avoiding the dreaded Y-word here) -- Baby Boom is affected, but stylish. Like its subjects, it can be annoying with its display of superficial trappings like a designer kitchen. But once the veneer is stripped away, the show -- and its main character, J.C. Wiatt (the reliably engaging Jackson) -- can be rather pleasant. [10 Sept 1998, p.B1]

The TV version is as cute as a game of peekaboo but not as funny. Indeed it could be argued there's not a single laugh in the pilot, except perhaps when J.C. accidentally kisses her Teutonic nanny goodbye when aiming for the toddler. The Teutonic nanny makes an arguably amusing face.