''Fat Actress'' is an American

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

television series starring Kirstie Alley. In the United States, it aired on Showtime from March 7 to April 18, 2005. The series was created and written by Alley and Brenda Hampton.

Premise

Alley gave a glimpse of the humor and the irony in her battle to lose weight and get back on television in a tough business that prefers the svelte figures seen on the most successful actresses. The series was generally unscripted, with each episode emanating from a story outline and the actors largely improvising the dialogue. The storylines were drawn from a heightened perception of Alley's real-life experiences, and some of Alley's friends appeared as themselves in cameos to further blur the lines between truth and fiction.

Cast and characters

Main

* Kirstie Alley as Kirstie Alley, a successful television and film star whose weight gain has become the subject of every tabloid imaginable, as well as the blight of her existence as she tries to find work and true love in an unforgiving Hollywood. * Rachael Harris as Kevyn Shecket, Kirstie's live-in hair stylist. Unlike Eddie, she is more of a best friend to Kirstie. * Bryan Callen as Eddie Falcone, Kirstie's personal assistant who lives in her garage. He himself is desperate for Hollywood work; at any chance he gets, he brings up a Hollywood film he did which is "taking film festivals by storm".

Recurring

* Michael McDonald as Sam Rascal, Kirstie's manager who disappoints her. * Kelly Preston as Quinn Taylor Scout, a young and very famous Hollywood starlet. She is bulimic and helps Kirstie lose much weight as possible, with the craziest and most dangerous diets.

Celebrity cameos

Several Hollywood celebrities appeared in the series as themselves: *

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* Leah Remini *

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Production

''Fat Actress'' was announced in July 2004, with plans to produce six episodes beginning in the fall. Harris and Callen were cast in September 2004. Filming took place in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California. Seven episodes were produced.

Episodes

Broadcast

In the United States, ''Fat Actress'' premiered on Showtime on March 7, 2005. The series premiere gave the network its highest series ratings, a record that was not beaten until October 2006. Viewership dropped dramatically after the first two episodes aired. The series aired on

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Eastern Canada Eastern Canada (, also the Eastern provinces, Canadian East or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of Hudson Bay/ Hudson Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newf ...

, FX in the UK,

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and VOX, it aired on

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and Das Vierte in

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Home media

A week after its premiere, Showtime announced plans to rush the series' DVD release in order to capitalize on an unusually high awareness of the program. The DVD was scheduled for release on May 24, 2005, rather than the usual six-to-nine-month waiting period for most Showtime shows. The series was added to

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in February 2006.

Reception

''Fat Actress'' received mixed reviews. Brian Lowry of '' Variety'' wrote a negative review, while ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' gave the series a "C−".

Nathan Rabin Nathan Rabin () is an American film and music critic. Rabin was the first head writer for ''The A.V. Club'', a position he held until he left the ''Onion'' organization in 2013.

deemed ''Fat Actress'' a "failure" in his "My World of Flops" column for ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'', saying "There is both laughter and poignancy to be gleaned from our culture’s obsession with thinness and cruelty towards those who come up short, but all ''Fat Actress'' is after is laughs, the cruder and cheaper the better."

References

External links

* {{Showtime Network programming 2000s American single-camera sitcoms 2005 American television series debuts 2005 American television series endings American English-language television shows Cultural depictions of American people Body image in popular culture Showtime (TV network) original programming Television series created by Brenda Hampton Television series about television