Grosse Pointe is an
American television
sitcom which aired on the
WB Network during the
2000-
2001 television season. Created by
Darren Star, it was a
satire depicting the behind-the-scenes drama on the set of a television show, and was inspired in large part by Star's experiences as the creator and producer of the nighttime
soap Beverly Hills, 90210.
On the DVD
audio commentary for the
Grosse Pointe pilot episode, Star explained that the behind-the-scenes antics on the set of 90210 were often more interesting than the show itself, and that the idea of creating a comedy based on this had been kicking around in his head for years.
The series takes place in
Los Angeles, on the set of a fictitious WB nighttime soap, also called
Grosse Pointe, and several characters were based on real-life actors. The fictitious
Grosse Pointe ("a misguided
90210 rip-off", as Star describes it) is set in the
wealthy Michigan suburb, and was very much a parody of teenage nighttime soaps.
Reportedly,
Beverly Hills 90210 producer
Aaron Spelling called WB executive
Jamie Kellner to complain about Lindsay Sloane's character Marcy Sternfeld, who in the original pilot was a thinly veiled parody of Spelling's daughter, actress
Tori Spelling.
["Makeover Mania", E! Online]["Pointe, Counterpoint", TIME Magazine, September 25, 2000]
Several actors from other WB series appeared as themselves on
Grosse Pointe, such as
Leslie Bibb and
Carly Pope of
Popular and
Sarah Michelle Gellar of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Grosse Pointe was on
the WB's Friday line-up in between
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and
Popular. The show lost much of the lead-in audience, and was moved to Sundays. It was canceled in March 2001 after 17 episodes.
The show's theme song was "Sex Bomb" by
Tom Jones and
Mousse T.
Cast
Main cast
Critical and public reaction
Critics were largely positive towards
Grosse Pointe.
TIME wrote that it was "nicely cast and smartly paced, it's a sassy, catty riot."
[TIME magazine ref from above]. The
New York Daily News wrote that it was "the funniest, smartest comedy" that the WB has ever had.
[Eric Mink, "Grosse Pointe is as sharp as ever", New York Daily News, February 9, 2001]
Despite this, the series struggled with low ratings. In its Friday night timeslot, it typically lost an average of one million viewers from its lead-in,
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. It was the only WB comedy to receive an "A" grade from
Entertainment Weekly.
["Inside Grosse Pointe, the WB's scathing 90210 spoof", Entertainment Weekly, November 17, 2000] Though the network tried to find an audience for it by moving it around the schedule,
Grosse Pointe ultimately failed to attract enough viewers to sustain it past one season.
DVD release
In January 2006,
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment announced that
Grosse Pointe would be released on DVD on March 14th, 2006.
[Grosse Pointe DVD news - TVShowsonDVD.com, January 2, 2006] The DVD was later quietly taken off the schedule, and several months later, it was announced that it would be released as an
Amazon.com exclusive on November 7, 2006. However, it was delayed yet again
[Grosse Pointe DVD news - TVShowsonDVD.com, November 13, 2006], but the DVD finally shipped in late November.
On December 4, 2006, Sony announced that the DVD would be widely released on February 13, 2007.
["Grosse Pointe - Complete Series hits store shelves in February", TVShowsOnDVD.com]
The opening titles and theme song only appear once on each disc of the DVD set, in the pilot episode for disc 1 and in "Puppet Master" for disc 2, because the use of "Sex Bomb" by Tom Jones was deemed too expensive to use in every episode. All other episodes had to be reedited to remove the opening titles. The cast credits, along with episode names, are shown over each episode's opening scene instead. The version of the titles that is used on DVDs is the standard version seen throughout the series not the original pilot version which featured
Joely Fisher or the final version which included Nat Faxon.
DVD extras include an interview with Darren Star and commentary tracks on the following episodes:
- "Pilot" (with Darren Star)
- "Devil in a Blue Dress" (with Darren Star and co-executive producer Robin Schiff)
- "Satisfaction" (with Darren Star and Robin Schiff)
- "Secrets and Lies" (with Darren Star and Robin Schiff)
The DVD release jacket of disc 2 has a misprint with two of the descriptions. Episode Star Wars description says that Marcy gets a restraining order to stop Quentin's harassment, when in reality it's actually Hunter who gets the restraining order. Episode End Of The Affair says that Dave looks for the courage to break up with Marcy, when in reality it's actually Hunter that he is trying to break up with.
