Caroline in the City

Though the show lacks the inspired cohesiveness of classic sitcoms like Cheers or Seinfeld, it is bright, brisk and well-played.

The real sparks on this show are between Caroline and the guy she's hired to color her strip, Richard. He's played by Malcolm Gets as a rude, fussy little man whose crankiness is a welcome contrast to Caroline's sunniness. Which is not to say that Thompson's presence here isn't welcome — she's a beguiling sitcom star, with just the right mixture of silliness, sexiness, and serenity.

It's not insulting to the intelligence. The first episode is promising and mildly, if not wildly, amusing. What it has going for it more than the laugh track is good writing and performances. [21 Sep 1995]

Lea Thompson is giving a performance that's a model of modest team playing; if she and frequent episode director James Burrows had better-defined supporting characters and funnier lines, Thompson would be courting comparisons to Mary Tyler Moore.

Caroline lacks the quirkiness and edge of its fellow NBC sitcoms. It also depends on the sort of hoary comedy devices that have made decades of TV sitcoms embarrassing to watch.