Surf Wiki
Save to docs
geography/united-states

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Listen Up (TV series)

FieldValue
genreSitcom
developerJeff Martin
starring{{Plainlist
musicBrian Kirk
countryUnited States
languageEnglish
num_seasons1
num_episodes22
cameraMulti-camera
runtime
company{{Plainlist
networkCBS
first_aired
last_aired
  • Jason Alexander
  • Wendy Makkena
  • Daniella Monet
  • Will Rothhaar
  • Malcolm-Jamal Warner
  • Regency Television
  • CBS Productions
  • Fox Television Studios

Listen Up is an American sitcom television series created by Jeff Martin, that aired on CBS from September 20, 2004, until April 25, 2005. The series was produced by Regency Television, CBS Productions and Fox Television Studios. The sitcom was based loosely on the life and exploits of the popular sportswriter and sports-media personality Tony Kornheiser. Its principal executive producer was Jason Alexander, who was also the lead actor. Despite decent-to-good ratings, the show was canceled by CBS on May 18, 2005; "rising production costs" was the major reason officially given for the cancellation.

Premise

Tony Kleinman is a Philadelphia based sports show host whose sidekick is Bernie Widmer, a former NFL player; together they host the TV show Listen Up. While Tony does talk about sports on the show and in his newspaper column, he strays away occasionally to talk about the daily exploits of his family: his wife, Dana, a fund-raiser coordinator; his son, Mickey, a 15-year-old golf prodigy, and Megan, his 14-year-old, know-it-all, smart-mouthed, soccer-playing daughter.

Cast and characters

  • Jason Alexander as Tony Kleinman, a co-host of Listen Up, a sports talk show
  • Wendy Makkena as Dana Kleinman, an administrator at Philadelphia Zoo
  • Daniella Monet as Megan Kleinman, the teenage daughter of Tony
  • Will Rothhaar as Mickey Kleinman, the teenage son of Tony
  • Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Bernie Widmer, a retired NFL player and a co-host of Listen Up

Episodes

Reception

Critical response

Critical reaction was largely negative. *USA Today'''s Robert Bianco wrote that the show makes the "mistake of trying to build a star vehicle around a second banana". A New York Times review called it "a rickety vehicle for Jason Alexander". Critics disagreed on the supporting cast – while USA Today noted, "When 'Listen Up' focuses on its supporting cast, the show works", The New York Times referred to a "stiff supporting cast". Matt Rouse of *TV Guide'' wrote, "Forget about the 'Seinfeld' curse, this is just mediocre material and bad casting."

Ratings

The premiere episode drew 11.8 million viewers, while the final episode drew 8.9 million viewers.

References

References

  1. (September 29, 2004). "Weekly Program Rankings (Sept. 20-26, 2004)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  2. (October 5, 2004). "Weekly Program Rankings (Sept. 27-Oct. 3, 2004)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  3. (October 12, 2004). "Weekly Program Rankings (Oct. 4-10, 2004)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  4. (October 19, 2004). "Weekly Program Rankings (Oct. 11-17, 2004)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  5. (October 26, 2004). "Weekly Program Rankings (Oct. 18-24, 2004)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  6. (November 2, 2004). "Weekly Program Rankings (Oct. 25-31, 2004)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  7. "Listen Up Episode Listings". [[The Futon Critic]].
  8. (November 16, 2004). "Weekly Program Rankings (Nov. 8-14, 2004)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  9. (November 23, 2004). "Weekly Program Rankings (Nov. 15-21, 2004)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  10. (November 30, 2004). "Weekly Program Rankings (Nov. 22-28, 2004)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  11. (December 7, 2004). "Weekly Program Rankings (Nov. 29-Dec. 5, 2004)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  12. (December 21, 2004). "Weekly Program Rankings (Dec. 13-19, 2004)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  13. (January 11, 2005). "Weekly Program Rankings (Jan. 3-9, 2005)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  14. (January 25, 2005). "Weekly Program Rankings (Jan. 17-23, 2005)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  15. (February 8, 2005). "Weekly Program Rankings (Jan. 31-Feb. 6, 2005)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  16. (February 15, 2005). "Weekly Program Rankings (Feb. 7-13, 2005)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  17. (February 23, 2005). "Weekly Program Rankings (Feb. 14-20, 2005)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  18. (March 1, 2005). "Weekly Program Rankings (Feb. 21-27, 2005)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  19. (March 15, 2005). "Weekly Program Rankings (Mar. 7-13, 2005)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  20. (March 29, 2005). "Weekly Program Rankings (Mar. 21-27, 2005)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  21. (April 19, 2005). "Weekly Program Rankings (Apr. 11-17, 2005)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  22. (April 26, 2005). "Weekly Program Rankings (Apr. 18-24, 2005)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  23. (May 3, 2005). "Weekly Program Rankings (Apr. 25-May 1, 2005)". [[American Broadcasting Company.
  24. Bianco, Robert. (September 19, 2004). "Witless 'Listen Up' has a tin ear for comedy".
  25. Heffernan, Virginia. (September 20, 2004). "A Celebrity on TV, a Schlemiel at Home". The New York Times.
  26. Goodman, Tim. (September 20, 2004). "Jason Alexander sitcom chalks one up for the 'Seinfeld' curse".
  27. (September 12–18, 2004). "Listen Up!".
  28. Haber, Matt. (March 26, 2006). "Sorry, Newman: There May Not Be a Seinfeld Curse". The New York Times.
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

2000s-american-multi-camera-sitcoms 2004-american-television-series-debuts 2005-american-television-series-endings american-english-language-television-shows television-series-about-television television-series-by-cbs-studios television-series-by-20th-century-fox-television television-series-about-radio cbs-sitcoms
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Listen Up (TV series) — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report