The elusive magazine-set comedy finally makes it to home video
One of the most hilarious sitcoms NBC ever produced has at long last made its way to home video thanks to Shout! Factory’s release of Just Shoot Me!: The Complete Series. The comedy about the publishing team of a top New York women’s magazine with a double meaning in its title, Just Shoot Me! always seemed like one of those sitcoms plenty of people knew about, but never reached a mass scale level of popularity. The show always managed to pull in enough numbers during its run to warrant its existence before being forgotten about following cancellation much in the way of 227, Evening Shade, ’Til Death and so many others. During the 7 seasons it aired, Just Shoot Me! endured so many schedule changes, it could almost be considered inhumane, while its final three episodes didn’t even make to the air, robbing the show of a proper series finale. But Just Shoot Me! had something better than huge numbers and a steady time slot going for it; it had a following no one could deny. And it’s more than easy to see why.
Just Shoot Me! opens on recently-unemployed news journalist Maya Gallo (Laura San Giacomo), who is forced to contact her estranged father Jack (George Segal) for financial help. What Jack offers Maya instead is the position of Editor-in Chief at the women’s magazine he owns called “Blush.” Maya takes on the job with the intent of turning the publication from a glossy read, into a hard-hitting magazine focusing on women’s issues. However this will be easier said than done thanks to Jack’s staff including Deputy Editor Nina Van Horn (Wendie Malick), a narcissistic former model, Photographer Elliot DeMauro (Enrico Colantoni), a lothario capable of having any woman he wants and Jack s Assistant Dennis Finch (David Spade), the sarcastic mastermind behind many of the office’s hi-jinks.
Just Shoot Me! debuted during NBC’s 90s golden age when Frasier and Friends reigned supreme and every sitcom on the network proved well-versed in the art of genuine hilarity. The series was no exception as it seamlessly functioned as a solid workplace comedy which took advantage of its unorthodox setting and the many possibilities within it. Yet the real strength of the show came from the characters themselves and the interplay they shared. “Can I peek,” asks Nina referring to a story Maya is writing. “You peaked years ago honey,” remarks Elliot. In another episode, when the two are discussing whether Nina can pull of a practical joke, she offers up a story from her past as proof. “Once, when I was roommates with Twiggy, she had this mint that she loved to eat. Well, one day when she was out buying some, I slept with her boyfriend.” The beauty of the characters is that despite the vast differences in their characteristics, all of them could be described as hapless losers who always remained full of loveable bite. “Everyone says she’s a genius,” exclaims Jack referring to his infant daughter Hannah. “Who’s everyone,” asks Dennis “You’re ass-kissing house staff who rely on you to stay in this country?”
A number of episodes from Just Shoot Me! definitely fall into the category of stand-out. Season one’s “Lemon Wacky Hello,” in which Jack brings home candies from a visit to China which end up being happy pills that cause most of the staff to hallucinate was a prelude of things to come. “What’s happening,” Maya asks, referring to everyone’s strange sensations. “I don’t know,” replies Nina. “I haven’t felt this way since 1969 to 1978.” However it’s in the third season where Just Shoot Me! truly found its footing thanks to the slightly brazen quality of its plots. In “Two Girls for Every Boy,” Dennis tries to secretly set Maya up with a lesbian model who has a crush on her in the hopes that the three of them will go to bed together. “I’m a frustrated male secretary; God owes me,” exclaims Dennis when pressed for his reasons by Elliot. The Emmy-nominated “Slow Donnie” introduces Elliot’s brother Donnie (David Cross), who has for years pretended to be mentally-challenged following a fall from a tree, but reveals to Maya he’s faking when he finds her attractive. “It’s ok, babe. I’m only really slow in the good ways,” he insists. When Maya tells all this to Elliot, he responds with the utmost denial. “He can play the most complicated video game for hours, but you ask him to mow the lawn, and nothing,” he shouts out frustratingly.
There was something incredibly innovative about Just Shoot Me! which may have helped in keeping its audience interested throughout the seasons, while at the same time possibly alienating mass viewers seeking traditional sitcoms. For starters, there was the way every episode’s scenes and acts were introduced with a shot of magazine cover and headlines such as “Who needs his approval? You do!” before launching into a scene with Maya hoping Jack loves the work she’s done. Meanwhile, certain episodes went against the grain altogether such as “A&E Biography: Nina Van Horn,” in which a mock episode of the documentary series looked at Nina’s life and career with guest appearances from Jerry Hall and Vanna White. The most memorable however remains “My Dinner with Woody,” in which a Woody Allen impersonator falls in love with Maya in this tribute to the director which came complete with old-school music, a black and white date sequence, the director’s trademark credits and moments such as the one when Maya dreamily says: “It felt like life was like my favorite movie! How many times can you say that?”
The writers behind Just Shoot Me! knew what stellar talent they had to work with and crafted an assortment of characters which played to every actor’s strengths. At the same time, the actors were always given enough new space to explore their comedic stylings, thereby avoiding the risk of ever getting comfortable. To single out one actor over another would be unfair as every character was written with such care and hilarity, that it was always a joy to watch whoever was on-screen in any given time. To put it simply: everyone was gold here.
Just Shoot Me! couldn’t help but fall into the inevitable sitcom trappings that many shows do (i.e. Maya and Elliot’s eventual relationship). The series also may have suffered slightly by being caught between two such distinct decades, (the post-grunge late 90s and the dot com early 00s) yet it proved resilient throughout. The show remained consistently funny while always serving as a somewhat perceptive document of fashion and celebrity culture that it never failed to send up. With a number of Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, including one for Best TV Series-Comedy/Musical, Just Shoot Me! did more than enough to make a splash, a fact never more evident than when Allen himself made a voice cameo in the aforementioned episode. The cast has since enjoyed various TV successes in the years since. Malick with Hot in Cleveland, Spade with Rules of Engagement and Colantoni with Veronica Mars, while the show’s creator Steven Levitan, would continue to blend social commentary and comedy by giving the world Modern Family a few years later. For many though, Just Shoot Me! will remain the eternal favorite for legions of fans thanks to how it made brilliantly made fun of the superficial in the most genuine of ways.
The Package
Two elements make the release of Just Shoot Me! worth adding to the library of any fan. The first is the inclusion of the series’ three final unaired episodes, which are unsurprisingly quite funny. The second is a cast reunion in which all the actors are joined by Levitan as they reminisce about the show they all helped bring to life.
The Lowdown
That sitcom you remember liking back in the day has returned and is just as funny as you remember it.
Just Shoot Me!: The Complete Series is now available on DVD from Shout! Factory.
