Less Than Perfect: Season One

Sara Rue plays Claude Casey, a “floating” temp secretary at a TV news station who's taken on full-time by the network's smugly charming star newscaster, Will Butler (Eric Roberts), in this series that ran from 2002-06. Less Than Perfect is a workplace comedy with the attitude of a high school dramedy, where the cliques are formed according to which elevator stop you work on. The unpretentious Claude upsets the balance with her giddy cheer and open-floor policy, which means her working-class buddies from the lower levels, Owen and Ramona (Andy Dick and Sherri Shepherd), come on up to deliver their own brand of goofy distraction, much to the consternation of both Kipp (Zachary Levi), the toadying assistant producer angling for a promotion, and an arrogant gold-digger and researcher/news writer named Lydia (Andrea Parker), who's trying to marry her way to success. Unfortunately, these aren't characters, but rather caricatures in a clichéd sitcom that can be occasionally funny but isn't particularly memorable. Not recommended. (S. Axmaker)