Of course I watched this show when it first came on because at that time, I too was a thirty-something Italian American chick from the Northeast who had recently gone back to school. I loved it -- total warm fuzzies for me. I was so happy that they'd gotten such amazing talent like Paul Sorvino and Ellen Burstyn. It was the perfect Saturday night show. Lydia had unpackaged pluck, which was nice for a change.
Then the network started playing around with programming, and the show disappeared for a while. Then it had an early season finale, and no one knew if it was coming back. Then, voila!, it showed up for a second season -- with a total makeover. The ex-fiancee was gone, the Italian song opener was gone, and a completely unrelated love interest materialized out of nowhere. Classic network "wow, this show is working great as it is, so let's CHANGE it!" tactic. But despite stretching the limits of reality as it was doing, the show was still good enough to keep watching, so I did. Then it disappeared after January 2002, and they never actually declared the show cancelled. It was gone as if it had never really existed. For a show that had existed for 1 1/2 seasons and had a fan base, that is inexcusable.
Then the network started playing around with programming, and the show disappeared for a while. Then it had an early season finale, and no one knew if it was coming back. Then, voila!, it showed up for a second season -- with a total makeover. The ex-fiancee was gone, the Italian song opener was gone, and a completely unrelated love interest materialized out of nowhere. Classic network "wow, this show is working great as it is, so let's CHANGE it!" tactic. But despite stretching the limits of reality as it was doing, the show was still good enough to keep watching, so I did. Then it disappeared after January 2002, and they never actually declared the show cancelled. It was gone as if it had never really existed. For a show that had existed for 1 1/2 seasons and had a fan base, that is inexcusable.