Did you watch "Fat Actress"? I know, you don't have Showtime, right? Me either. I mean, who does, really?
The thing is, her PR dude is certainly earning his keep, because I have been reading about this show EVERYWHERE. USA Today claimed to have liked the show. They compared it to "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and said that it works because Kirstie Alley is so funny. But The New York Post had this negative review of the show.
Then I found out I could watch the entire pilot episode ("Big Butts") here. It was a bit of a train wreck, I'll admit. Seeing her sobbing on the bathroom floor after stepping on the scale and then getting a call from her agent on a job offer as spokesperson for Jenny Craig - not all that funny to me. But parts of it had me giggling a bit.
Other parts (like the whole fat-white-women-can-have-sex-with-black-men-because-they-like-big-butts storyline) seemed a bit contrived. The black-men-have-bigger-packages part has most assuredly been overdone.
It is very much in the vein of "Curb" - you can pick out most of the improvised parts. Her supporting cast was EXCELLENT - Rachel Harris as her make-up artist that changed her name to Kevyn in honor of her idol Kevin Aucoin and Bryan Callen (who I totally recognize yet haven't seen anything he's done according to imdb) as her somewhat effeminate assistant were, IMHO, better than Kirstie.
So go watch the clip and tell me what you think. Tell me it sucks and you could only take four minutes of it. Or tell me you're calling now to order Showtime. I'm taking a poll.