#12: Caroline in the City



      Starring: Lea Thompson, Eric Lutes, Malcolm Gets, Amy Pietz, Andy Lauer and Tom La Grua
      Directors: James Burrows, Michael Lembeck and Gordon Hunt

      James Burrows' magic touch rescues this otherwise ordinary show from getting too familiar. Sprung into it in the aftermath of the Seinfeld and Friends booms, Lea Thomson, is far too old for the character she plays--a single cartoonist with a popular strip, a carefree Manhattan lifestyle, a beautiful sidekick (the saucy Amy Pietz invokes comparisons to Christine Baranski’s character in Cybill) and, a less than perfect relationship with an incredibly dense boyfriend (Eric Lutes). Tom La Grua often makes an unnecessary appearance as Remo, proprietor of an Italian restaurant, a role that allows him to over act wildly when he isn’t taking the mandatory shots at the Family. (Thursdays at 9:30 on NBC)