It’s a perfect week for curse-breaking
Julia Louis-Dreyfus is on the verge -- not of a nervous breakdown (though she jokes “my brain is quite busy” from anxiety) -- but of finally conquering the so-called “Seinfeld Curse.”
Her CBS sitcom, “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” has fared well with critics and has settled in with an audience of about 12 million viewers on Monday nights, signs that point to a fall renewal and the right for one of America’s funniest women to claim another career hit.
But there’s a bit of a hitch in “Old Christine’s” adventures: Louis-Dreyfus is not sure if the fun is already over.
Next week is the biggest week of the year for the television industry, the time when network chiefs sell ad time in advance for next fall during elaborate presentations in Manhattan. Each network takes turns making surprise announcements, parading its stars, and in some cases, using them. Louis-Dreyfus seems to be one of those.
Like many actors across the networks, she has been invited to participate in a sketch at Carnegie Hall when CBS presents its new lineup on Wednesday. But the powers-that-be won’t officially confirm that her show is returning because it’s all supposed to be very hush-hush and startling. Hence, the extra brain activity and insecurity about overcoming a curse that seems very absurd to her in the first place.
“When I get out of the cab and they let me in the building, then I’ll know we’re there,” said Louis-Dreyfus over breakfast at the Four Seasons. “It feels good to be on the verge. Verge is better than being on the outs, let’s put it that way. But we don’t take anything for granted.”
The supposed curse is said to plague the entire “Seinfeld” cast, a group of exceptionally talented actors who found magic together but not apart.
“Who came up with that anyway?” Louis-Dreyfus ponders, making one of her signature funny faces. “It was some writer somewhere, I don’t know. Show business, especially television, is really about luck a lot of the time. To be on a show like ‘Seinfeld’ in one lifetime is very lucky. To have more than that? A lot of times it’s not possible and it’s OK. It’s not a curse. Not. A. Curse.”
But just in case, Louis-Dreyfus won’t leave home without two religious medallions she wears around her neck, the same two medallions she gave Kari Lizer, “Old Christine’s” creator, who also wears them wherever she goes. One is St. Gerard, the patron saint of motherhood; the other is St. Claire, the patron saint of television.
“Oh, my God, they are going to think it’s like Scientology,” Louis-Dreyfus says, realizing her medals will probably be mentioned in print. “They’re going to think I’ve gone off the deep end.”
Lizer explains: “We’re both a little on the superstitious side and I curse her for giving me these medals and telling me that they are good-luck medals. Don’t say that! Then when the chain broke, and I had to crazy-glue the medals, and I went on vacation and I didn’t bring the medals with me and the ratings slipped a bit, oh my. You don’t want to be that much of a lunatic, but there’s so much luck involved in show business in general that it makes you a little superstitious, [even] when you’re generally a common-sense kind of person.”
Lizer and Louis-Dreyfus have bonded over a lot more than their medals. They are both mothers with tendencies toward making lots of lists (like Christine), and they are obsessed with “American Idol” (like Christine). Lizer, a former actress who wrote for four years on “Will & Grace,” is divorced and has three children. Louis-Dreyfus has been married to writer Brad Hall for 19 years and they have two sons.
“The New Adventures of Old Christine” is partially based on Lizer’s experience as a divorced mother who has an amicable relationship with her ex-husband. Louis-Dreyfus, who had been looking for writers to develop a show in which she would play a mother, read Lizer’s script and “the development process was over,” she said, feigning hoity-toityness.
“It clicked for me because it felt strangely familiar, even though this isn’t what my life is,” Louis-Dreyfus said. “But even more so, it was funny. I know that sounds very fundamental, but funny is hard to come by and when things are funny, it’s not necessarily easy.”
Lizer set out to write a story about divorce and motherhood not typically seen on network television. “I wanted to write about a divorced family trying to do the right thing by their kids. Not just the single parent and not just the acrimonious divorce, but a divorced family where the child is still the priority. I don’t think you have to hit the lowest common denominator to be funny. People can be good people and be funny.”
Several things about the pilot grabbed Louis-Dreyfus’ attention, but the clincher was a scene between Christine and two “meanie moms” in her son’s new private school in which the mothers introduce themselves this way: “Marley Earheart. Ashley, third, Nicki, first.” “Lindsey. Kelsey, third. Tammy, fourth, Jackson, pre-K.” And Christine deadpans, “I don’t know what you’re saying to me.”
“I love that. That is a well-written line,” Louis-Dreyfus said. “As opposed to ‘Excuse me?’ or ‘I’m sorry?’ It’s very funny. We’ve had so much fun working on this show. Kari is the kind of girl that I love. I can’t believe our paths hadn’t crossed until last year.”
The giggling gal pals profess they will be friends for life, no matter what. But it sure would be nice to know how this story ends, muses Louis-Dreyfus.
“You can certainly say that I love them both and we’re just very, very proud of the show,” is all CBS President of Entertainment Nina Tassler would offer about the sitcom’s future.
In the meantime, all this “Christine” fuss will have to wait. Louis-Dreyfus is hosting “Saturday Night Live” this week, a gig that requires a week of preparation in New York.
“I feel like it’s final exam week,” Louis-Dreyfus said. “It’s a lot of preparation and you want to get an A on your exam. A lot of work goes into it and you take a deep breath and go forward. It’s going to be a big week because, well, you know, it’s going to be a big week.”
