Listen Up! (TV series)

Listen Up!
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Jeff Martin
Written by	Kenya Barris Linda Videtti Figueiredo Dan Fybel Erika Kaestle Dan Kopelman Tony Kornheiser David Litt Jeff Martin Patrick McCarthy Daniel O'Keefe Rich Owens Daphne Pollon Jamie Rhonheimer
Directed by	Andy Ackerman Andy Cadiff Mark Cendrowski Gerry Cohen Leonard R. Garner, Jr. Terry Hughes Barnet Kellman Bob Koherr Rob Schiller Andrew D. Weyman John Whitesell
Starring	Jason Alexander Wendy Makkena Malcolm-Jamal Warner Will Rothhaar Daniella Monet
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	22
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	September 20, 2004 (2004-09-20) – April 25, 2005 (2005-04-25)
External links
Production website

Listen Up! is an American situation comedy that aired on CBS from September 20, 2004 until April 25, 2005. The sitcom was based loosely on the life and exploits of the popular sportswriter and sports-media personality Tony Kornheiser. Its principal executive producer was Jason Alexander, who was also the lead actor. Despite decent-to-good ratings, the show was canceled by CBS on May 18, 2005; "rising production costs" was the major reason officially given for the cancellation.

Premise

Tony Kleinman is a sports show host who talks about everything sports with his sidekick Bernie Widmer, a former NFL player; together they host the TV show Listen Up! While Tony does talk about sports most of the time on the show and on his newspaper column, he strays away occasionally to talk about the daily exploits of his family; these are his wife, Dana, a fundraiser coordinator, Mickey his 15-year-old golf prodigy son and Megan, his 14-year-old know-it-all, smart-mouthed, soccer-playing daughter.

Cast members

Main characters

Actor	Role
Jason Alexander	Tony Kleinman
Wendy Makkena	Dana Kleinman
Malcolm-Jamal Warner	Bernie Widmer
Will Rothhaar	Mickey Kleinman
Daniella Monet	Megan Kleinman

Response

Critical reaction was largely negative with USA Today's Robert Bianco saying the show makes the "mistake of trying to build a star vehicle around a second banana." The New York Times said it was "a rickety vehicle for Jason Alexander."

Critics disagreed on the supporting cast. USA Today said "when Listen Up focuses on its supporting cast, the show works" with The New York Times saying it had a "stiff supporting cast."

Matt Rouse of TV Guide wrote, "Forget about the Seinfeld curse, this is just mediocre material and bad casting".

Episodes

Episode #	Episode title	Original airdate
1-1	"Pilot"	September 20, 2004
1-2	"Hammer Time"	September 27, 2004
1-3	"Grandmaster of the Wolfhunt"	October 4, 2004
1-4	"Cool Jerk"	October 4, 2004
1-5	"Quest For Fire"	October 18, 2004
1-6	"Mickey Swallows a Bee"	October 25, 2004
1-7	"The Gift of the Ton-i"	November 8, 2004
1-8	"Sweet Charity"	November 15, 2004
1-9	"Thanksgiving"	November 22, 2004
1-10	"Mickey Without a Cause"	November 29, 2004
1-11	"Enemy at the Gates"	December 13, 2004
1-12	"Tony the Tiger"	January 3, 2005
1-13	"Snub Thy Neighbor"	January 17, 2005
1-14	"Weekend With Bernie"	January 31, 2005
1-15	"Inky Dinky Don't"	February 7, 2005
1-16	"Colon-Oopscopy"	February 14, 2005
1-17	"Tony Whine-Man"	February 21, 2005
1-18	"Couch Potato"	March 7, 2005
1-19	"Waiting for Kleinman"	March 21, 2005
1-20	"Check Mates"	April 11, 2005
1-21	"Ebony and Irony"	April 18, 2005
1-22	"Last Vegas"	April 25, 2005

Ratings

Premiere: 11.8 million

Last episode: 8.9 million

External links

• Listen Up! at the Internet Movie Database
• Listen Up! at TV.com