UPGem

I’m not one to wax philosophical about T.V. shows, but UPN may have the best lifestyle comedy show in network television. Girlfriends is about the trials and tribunes of four young African-American professional females. What could a young, white, Jewish Canadian have in common with four black females - in Los Angeles no less? Your first conclusion is right: nothing. However, it’s precisely this anomaly that makes the show so effective. Girlfriends’ ability to transcend racial and social (amongst other) lines in a uniquely comedic fashion releases it from the shackles of UPN’s notorious “racial programming”.
It is no wonder Girlfriends is Kelsey Grammar’s baby, as it assumes a similar character to that of Frasier. Frasier was capable of attracting an audience wider than the assumed wannabe intellects (usually humanities undergrad students) by enticing the “average” nightly viewer. That is to say, both shows develop a unique, yet, similar narrative that compels even the most unlikely demographic to ‘see’ it through. They cross boundaries rarely even flirted with by other shows. Chronically overrated shows like: CSI (“Suicide jumpers don’t take off their eyeglasses”), The West Wing (the writing wind was knocked out of this show years ago) and Six Feet Under (savants on the edge of society) and a handful of reality shows pander, regrettably, to armchair detectives and other pathetic indolents (think: room-temperature IQ types) lurking in suburban living-rooms the world over.