13 november 2000

By Matt Roush

Frothy Felicity Deserves Seniority One of the happier trends in primetime has been a flourishing of comedy-drama hybrids that beguile, entertain and occasionally even move us with their offbeat storytelling. We laugh, we cry, we recommend. Ally McBeal, which at its best defines the genre, has greatly improved from last season's wanton wackiness, regaining its wistfully amorous core. And this fall we've welcomed NBC's endearing Ed and WB's quirkily likable Gilmore Girls. Then there's WB's smart, swoony and sudsy third-year charmer Felicity (Wednesdays, 9 pm/ET), by far the gem in that network's assembly line of youth-oriented serials. An atmospheric and evocatively romanticized look at college life, the fetching Felicity deserves better than being thrown against killer competition like The West Wing and The Drew Carey Show. While Felicity's (the radiant Keri Russell) hair has grown, the show's puny ratings aren't the sort that make the dean's list. And with the series already planning a mid-season hiatus in January to make way for the more generic Jack & Jill, whether it will return in the spring or for how long is uncertain. This is a real shame. Ever since Felicity cast her lot with brooding heartthrob Ben (Scott Speedman), the show's rich swirl of rollicking relationships has made for emotionally rewarding TV. Enjoyable, too, as budding filmmaker Sean (Greg Grunberg) hounds his friends with a camera for a cable reality series, seeking a new "hook" every week and always finding one. When plaintive Julie (Amy Jo Johnson) abruptly left the show, leaving a video farewell to her pals, it recalled a similarly tear-jerking moment on Knots Landing, the most durable of the last wave of classic nighttime soaps. Felicity ought to be a keeper, especially when you consider the creative decline of WB's tiresomely self-aware Dawson's Creek, the stridently campy Popular and even Roswell, once a favorite of mine but now diminished into a ponderous junior-league X-Files with too much plot and not enough wit. I'd like to see Felicity's gang advance to senior year. But then, I'm still watching Freaks and Geeks reruns on cable.