Let’s make a deal

Lisa Kudrow takes another stab at the sitcom with this new, improvised series. Kudrow plays a self-absorbed psychiatrist who got bored with 90-minute sessions, and now bullies her clients into three-minute, web-based hit-and-run counseling bursts that are about as ineffective as they are offensive. Kudrow is of course best known as the daffy Phoebe from “Friends,” and a few years back she tried a TV comeback with, well, “The Comeback,” her experimental HBO show that just didn’t click with mainstream audiences. (It has since become something of a cult classic with some diehard fans.) This series seems more easily digestible, and it helps that it features appearances by recognizable actors like Victor Garber, Lily Tomlin, Jane Lynch, Rashida Jones, Maulik Pancholy (“Weeds,” “30 Rock”), and the underutilized Jennifer Elise Cox (Jan from the Brady Bunch movies).

 

Say what you will about reality TV, but it does occasionally capture a fascinating subculture better than perhaps any other format. Take the world of storage-unit auctions. In some areas these can become fiercely competitive, and quite lucrative for smart buyers. “Storage Wars” follows a group of prominent buyers in California, where the contents of storage lockers go up for sale if no payment has been made in 90 days. (This is how Paris Hilton’s Valtrex prescription became public record—oops.) Some of these buyers can turn $350 into $9,000 after reselling antiques, electronics, and various items that some shmuck left sitting around. Moral of the story: Pay your storage bills, or someone else will get rich.

A couple of seasons back on “30 Rock,” Liz Lemon met and dated an irritating British dude by the name of Wesley Snipes who flinched every time someone mentioned Blade. In the movie Office Space one of the skinny dweeb guys hated sharing a name with schmaltz-pop singer Michael Bolton. Those characters would probably not be fans of this new series, which combines “Who Do You Think You Are?” with “Wife Swap” and “Undercover Boss” by sending celebrities to switch lives with common folks born with the same name. So David “Baywatch” Hasselhoff has to mow lawns and change baby diapers while some regular guy gets worked over in the gym and has to spend time with The Hoff’s talentless children. I would take the 2am infant feedings in a heartbeat.