Show killer no more!
Rockville native Paula Marshall will be back come fall as Allison Brooks, the sexy, headstrong ex-wife to Jay Mohr's wisecracking blue-collar schlump in the sitcom Gary Unmarried, which has been picked up by CBS for a second season.
The network's announcement last week is good news for everyone associated with the show, of course, but great news for Marshall. For nearly 20 years, she has bounced from one TV series to the next. She starred as a regular in more than a half-dozen shows - without a single one being renewed.
"Well, I was relieved," she says from Los Angeles, no doubt understating her feeling after weeks of waiting for the official word about Gary Unmarried. "I felt like good work, combined with good numbers, finally paid off."
Then, mischievously, she gets to the crux of the matter. "Of course, I will be printing up that T-shirt that says, 'Show Killer my a-.' "
Don't begrudge Marshall her happiness at finally putting the lie to that unwelcome nickname. Ever since 1990, when she appeared in the pilot episode of The Flash (she never made it past the pilot, and CBS dropped the show after a season), Marshall has been a mainstay of single-season TV series.
Some have barely registered with audiences (1997's Chicago Sons, 13 episodes, NBC). Others got major buildups, but were big disappointments (1999's Snoops, from Ally McBeal creator David Kelley, 10 episodes, ABC). Some deserved a better fate than to sink into ignominy (2002's Hidden Hills, 13 episodes, NBC), and one developed cult followers who still wonder why it wasn't renewed (1998's Cupid, 14 episodes, NBC).
"And yet, I get such good reviews," Marshall, 44, said over a recent lunch at a West Hollywood restaurant. "People are generally so kind to me."
It's little solace, doing praiseworthy work on shows that, apparently, no one is watching. But Marshall, with her dark hair and round face, complementing a level of sass-tinged vulnerability reminiscent of a young Mary Tyler Moore, has been a bright spot in some pretty forgettable shows.
As a guest star, she has shone. On The Wonder Years, she played the heart-breaking girlfriend of big brother Wayne (Jason Hervey); on Sports Night, she was the self-possessed prostitute that Jeremy (Joshua Malina) couldn't own up to loving; on Spin City, she was the gal Mike (Michael J. Fox) almost married.
