Maya Gallo

Maya Gallo
File:Mayagalo.jpg Laura San Giacomo as Maya Gallo
First appearance	"Just Shoot Me"
Last appearance	"Strange Bedfellows"
Created by	Steven Levitan
Portrayed by	Laura San Giacomo
In-universe information
Gender	Female
Occupation	Reporter
Family	Jack Gallo (father)

Maya Gallo was a fictional character on the former NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me!, where she was played by Laura San Giacomo. Originally, Maya was intended to be the show's main character, but the series instead began to more prominently feature David Spade's character Dennis Finch, although San Giacomo's name remained first in the credits.

Characteristics

Maya was largely portrayed as a hot-tempered, sassy journalist who took a job at the fictional glamour fashion magazine Blush, which happened to be owned by her father Jack Gallo, in the pilot when she was out on her luck. She was a dichotomy on several levels, with her headstrong smarts coupled against a naïveté about life and sometimes even love. Keeping with her neo-feminist views, Maya frowned upon men looking at women as objects of sexual desire, instead encouraging people to admire females for their intelligence. Unfortunately for her, this was not a popular view for a fashion magazine and it therefore put her at odds with much of the magazine's staff.

Despite her usual tendencies, there have been several instances in which Maya was alluded to be nude or engaging in sexual intercourse. Furthermore, in spite of her frequent attempts to deemphasize her large breasts, she wasn't above brandishing them as a form of persuasion when need be. There was one instance in which she purposely stuck her chest out and partially unbuttoned her blouse to show a hint of cleavage in an effort to distract Dennis Finch, an admitted admirer of her bosom. Maya was occasionally on the receiving end of "boob jokes" on the show, especially from Finch and Nina Van Horn. Whenever a joke in regards to her bustline was made, Maya usually wouldn't dignify the remark with a verbal response, although she would often appear visibly flustered.

Maya was often shown dating on the show. Among her dates were Michael Tenzer (David Rasche), Chris (Dean Cain), Ray Liotta (Ray Liotta) and another man named Chris (Joe Rogan). Although she was involved in several relationships, she was never depicting getting married in the series.

Storylines

Perhaps Maya's most significant storyline on the show was her on-again, off-again romantic relationship with photographer Elliot DiMauro. Despite his womanizing tendencies, Elliot always treated Maya with respect and his relationship with her never seemed to be sexually motivated. After being drawn out through several episodes, the relationship came to a conclusion in a two-part episode in season five, where Elliot took Maya out to a lavish restaurant. Unbeknownst to Maya, Elliot asked her to marry him after he gave her Maya's mother's wedding ring, which was passed down from her father Jack Gallo. An emotional Maya said "yes" and offered him her hand in marriage. Within mere moments of her approval, Elliot immediately had second thoughts about what he was getting himself into and he suddenly fainted. Elliott was quickly transported to a local hospital and Maya, still in her evening gown, came to the hospital as well. She became angry when the doctor told her that he had a mere panic attack. Maya gave him the ring back and called off the marriage to his dismay. Elliott didn't want his relationship with Maya to end and he proposed to her the next day at work. Maya said "yes", but Elliot had yet another panic attack. Soon after, Maya came to the realization that they weren't meant to be together as a couple and she ended her romantic relationship with him. She also kicked him out of their apartment.

Her most drawn out storyline on the program was her shaky relationship with her father Jack Gallo. It was strung out throughout the entire duration of the show. Maya wasn't particularly thrilled with her father's relationships with women - mostly because his females companions were usually her age. Also, they didn't have much of a relationship when she was a child because he was too busy working - it continued to bother her into adulthood and she'd frequently let him know about it.