BURBANK, California -- Aug. 15, 2006 -- The CW Television Network announced its exciting lineup for fall 2006 today, with longtime favorites from both UPN and the WB joining forces for an unrivaled entertainment experience. (Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars back to back on Tuesdays? Yes, please!) There are of course new shows, too, from touching family dramas to sci fi extravaganzas and sizzling hot erotic love triangles. But if there’s one new program that has everyone talking, it’s Sleater-Kinnear, the hilarious new comedy from the writers of Mad About You and Will & Grace.
Greg Kinnear (Auto Focus, Little Miss Sunshine) returns to the small screen as Tim Kinnear, a kindly shop owner from the folksy small town of Sleater, Vermont. (TV fans will recognize many of the sets from the beloved NBC series Ed.) Tim’s temper is as sharp as his wit. But he also has a heart of gold, and when a struggling local debate team loses its national accreditation, he believes in them when no one else will. The Sleater Area Adult Forensics Team (SAAFT) sets up its practice podiums in the back of Tim’s fruit shop and, with Tim’s encouragement — and the sometimes unwanted input of cynical, cigar-chomping local Pikachu Snorlax (played by comedian and actor Andy Richter) — SAAFT fights its way back to the adult forensics championships. Along the way everyone learns a little, loves a little, and laughs a whole lot.
The Sleater Area Adult Forensics Team is played by Carrie Brownstein, Corin Tucker and Janet Weiss, formerly of the contemporary punk rock trio Sleater-Kinney, which announced its breakup this past month. Though Brownstein, Tucker and Weiss only have a few months of summer stock between them in terms of acting experience, all three are excited about the opportunity to transform the startling lyricism and fiery guitar chords that defined S-K into hearty Midwestern belly laughs, and maybe a few tears. “Wait till you get a load of that Snorlax,” Brownstein laughs. “He’s just bearing down on that ratty cigar, and everything he says is funnier than Oscar the Grouch, Alf, and that girl from 'Small Wonder' combined!”
Sleater-Kinnear will air Wednesdays (9-9:30 p.m., ET/PT) after America’s Next Top Model.
JTL
