Grosse Point

What a great shame that this absolutely brilliant sitcom didn’t make it past its first 17 episodes.

Grosse Point was created by Darren Star, who gave us such hit shows as Sex and the City and Beverley Hills, 90210.

In Grosse Point, Darren Star seems to have taken it upon himself to satirise all of his previous work. This is not to say the show is some malicious hatchet job. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact it’s a really well observed comedy that vivisects the key obsessions of the popular culture – fame, beauty, money etc.

On the DVD’s commentary track Darren Star explains how when he was working on Beverley Hills, 90210, that the shennanigans going on behind-the-scenes were often more interesting than what was happening on the show.

This is clearly reflected in the characters on Grosse Point. The insecure Marcy Sternfeld is obviously based on Tori Spelling. Quentin King is a spoof on Luke Perry. And uber-bitch Hunter Fallow is clearly a send up of Shannen Doherty.

Darren Star says that this series had been percolating in his head for years, and you can tell.

It's clear he had loads of ideas for stories and plots. You get the impression with the 17 episodes that he did get to air that he was really just starting. A lot of the characters were only beginning to get more fleshed out. One wonders in what direction the series could have gone had it survived.

Mr Pinky’s favourite episode is the one where Hunter auditions for the role of Monica Lewinsky in Oliver Stone’s upcoming production titled, Lewinsky. There’s a catch though. Hunter is told she has to put on weight for the part. Amazingly, once Hunter starts eating and putting on weight she turns nice.

One of the producers, played by Joely Fischer, has this great line where she says, ‘All along we thought Hunter was a bitch. It turns out she was just hungry.’

Again, I can’t say enough good stuff about this series.

What a tragedy that the rating dropped off on this fine satire and it had to be dumped.

The writing is sharp, the situations brilliantly realised, the cast get the humour and know where all the laughs are to be made. Each 22 minute episode is tightly edited so there’s never a dull moment. The viewer is delighted, too, by the series’ constant invention. Surprises in the plot just keep coming up, delighting you with unexpected gags and unforseen character revelations.

This DVD is worth every penny you’ll pay for it.