'Welcome To New York' Gets Last Laugh
Christine Baranski, Jim Gaffigan Talk About New Fall Comedy
Every fall, the big networks roll out what they hope will tickle our funny bone, stir our emotions, or what they simply hope that we will tune in to see what all the fuss is about.
It's an expensive gamble. Out of hundreds of pilots, only a handful are chosen to grace the airwaves. But even getting a time slot is no assurance that a show will appeal to a viewing audience.
More often than not, the best indicator of whether a show will make it out of the starting gate (and keep running) is the kind of Hollywood buzz that it generates. Who is talking about the show, and what are they saying?
This year, CBS is introducing three new laughers. You've probably heard more about two of them than the third. The one that you haven't heard about is the somewhat tedious "we just got married and have a baby, now what do we do?" dozer "Yes, Dear."
The other two are the much anticipated "Bette," starring the unstoppable Bette Midler, and the other stars the sensational, stylish and very funny Christine Baranski. The show, called "Welcome To New York," teams her with funnyman Jim Gaffigan.
I caught up with Baranski and Gaffigan to get their take on "Welcome" and find out just what makes this show sizzle.
New York State Of Mind 
What do you get when you pluck an Indiana weatherman from corn-fed America and toss him into a stormy New York morning show?
Well, CBS producers are forecasting a hit.
With a cast that includes Emmy and Tony winner Baranski, comedian Gaffigan, former "Chicago Hope" co-star Rocky Carroll and former "Roseanne" co-star Sara Gilbert, their prediction might just be right.
The two stars of the show, Baranski and Gaffigan, are hesitant to say that they've got a sure-fire winner, but they told me that they are certainly excited about the show.
The pilot that I saw was funnnnnny. Gaffigan's amiable and somewhat naive character, uncannily named Jim Gaffigan, plays survivor amid the big-city scene of latte-loving, all-black-wearing citizens of Gotham. Imagine the possibilities.
Faced with this challenge, Gaffigan relies on his Midwestern sensibility to get by. But what he finds is that his homegrown approach is like another language to New Yawkers.
Welcome Mat
"Really? You liked it?"
Baranski seems genuinely pleased when I tell her that I loved the "Welcome To New York" pilot episode that I watched a few days earlier.
We're in the garden at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Pasadena, Calif. Wearing a crisp summer outfit of a tailored sleeveless blouse and trousers, Baranski is a woman who simply oozes class.
It's late afternoon, what I call the "golden hour."
Baranski's career seems to be entering a golden hour, too. Her sidekick days are coming to an end.
Television audiences know Baranski as the sharp-tongued Maryann Thorpe on the CBS series "Cybill." Her performance earned her an Emmy Award (and a total of four nominations), an American Comedy Award and three Golden Globe nominations.
To movie buffs, she's best known for features like "Bowfinger," "Bulworth," "Cruel Intentions," "Jeffrey" and "The Birdcage."
But diehard Baranski fans know that she's been hoofing it on the Great White Way for years.
A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Baranski studied acting at Juilliard before getting her big break in Tom Stoppard's Broadway comedy "The Real Thing." She won a Tony and a Drama Desk Award for her role opposite Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons.
Baranski went on to win yet another Tony and Drama Desk Award for her stellar performance in Neil Simon's "Rumors," and a third Drama Desk Award for "Lips Together Teeth Apart."
But this afternoon, the actress is eager to talk about "Welcome" and is quick to point out that what I saw was only the beginning.
"Oh, we're retooling the pilot, we have two new (characters), so it's really going to be sharper and funnier than the pilot you saw," Baranski tells me.
One of the new characters is Baranski's assistant, played by Gilbert.
Baranski tells me that the writing is what makes the show special.
"They're the real thing. They're not typical Hollywood writers. And we've got this amazing ensemble cast," Baranski says of the show. "I don't know, it feels good."
Branski says the gutsy television executive whom she plays, Marsha Bickner, is a bit neurotic.
"How can you live in New York and be in a high-powered job without being a little (neurotic)?" she asks with a smile. "She's driven. She's guarded. She's had to struggle to get to the top."
Is Bickner a little bit Baranski?
"Well, I've had to struggle to get to the top. But I think this woman has sacrificed a lot to get to the top. I have two beautiful children and a husband," she says.
Family is definitely important to Baranski. In fact, as an executive producer of the show as well as its star, she insisted that the series be shot in New York. She says that the locale would not only give the show authenticity, but she would not have to move her family.
"That was in my contract. No more L.A. shows," Baranski says.
The Name Game
A number of shows have borne the names of their leading ladies: "Cybill," "Ellen," "The Carol Burnett Show," and now "Bette," to name a few. But this is not "The Christine Baranski Show."
Christine Baranski made it big on Broadway before heading to Hollywood. What other actors cut their teeth on the Great White Way?
Baranski says that when one performer is the headliner, it puts tremendous pressure on that person.
"You'd be surprised. If you have to carry a show -- if you're in every scene, if the show is about you -- you have to come up with a lot of stuff. Otherwise, you can start playing the same notes over and over," she says.
The former Cybill Shepherd sidekick says, "One of the things I learned by playing a supporting actress all those years is that it's better for an audience to want to see more of you than to, like, go, 'All right, already, we get it.'"
Then in her best New York accent she howls, "We geeeet it. We get it. Now get off the stage."
Gaffigan's Island
Although "Welcome" highlights Baranski, the premise of the series revolves around Indiana weatherman Jim Gaffigan making it to the big time. In this case, it means accepting a weatherman's job at "AM New York" on the survivor-like island of Manhattan.
He's not a real weatherman, but Gaffigan is a native of Indiana who moved to New York City to pursue an entertainment career. Not only did he find success as a stand-up comic, he has also co-starred in plenty of features ("Three Kings" and "The Thomas Crown Affair") and television shows ("Lateline," "Conrad Bloom," "Third Watch" and "Law & Order").
Despite those credits, true Hollywood stardom has eluded Gaffigan. Until now.
With the premiere of "Welcome," Gaffigan is poised to become a household name.
He tells me that he can't believe that all this is happening to him.
"I think it's a gigantic practical joke. And right when I start to believe it, somebody is going to tap me on the shoulder ... it's amazing," Gaffigan says.
"Not only is she a great actor, but she's really sweet and smart," Gaffigan says of working with legendary talent Baranski. "We wanted to do a really good New York show, and Christine is all into that."
Gaffigan thinks that he and Baranski work well together.
"I had never met her prior to this show. I had obviously seen her in stuff and been a fan of hers and seen her in Broadway shows. But I clicked with her. It's fate," he says.
They seem to agree on a lot. Like Baranski, Gaffigan would rather not have his name in the show's title.
"I don't want that kind of pressure. I'm playing Jim Gaffigan, and that's enough pressure. It doesn't have to be 'The Jim Gaffigan Show,' It doesn't appeal to me."
Do we have to be from Indiana or New York to appreciate the jokes?
Gaffigan says no way, adding that the show has universal appeal because we have all felt a bit out of place at one point or another in our lives.
"When they say Middle America, they don't mean people in the middle of the country; they mean people outside of large urban cities," Gaffigan says. "And I think everyone in reality is really a fish out of water in some ways."
The Big Scoop
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