Notes from the Underbelly The Blackout (2007–2008) Online

Notes from the Underbelly is yet another short-lived US sitcom that here in Finland has been dumped, three years after it premiered in the States, in a dead slot. The Dead Slot Sitcoms come and go, and this one is not different - well, unless you consider the fact that it *wasn't* canceled during its first season, like most other DSSs. However, last week I noticed something in the first episode of Season 2. I couldn't bother to check whether Wikipedia had any ratings info on the show, but I'll hazard a guess that the ratings of Season 1 were not stellar, so the decision-makers came up with a way to try to boost ratings.

It was so blatantly obvious that it was embarrassing to watch. And I am a man. I shouldn't be embarrassed to watch what they did. So what *did* they do? Well, to exaggerate things a little, they made Jennifer Westfedlt's cleavage a character. "Not that there is anything wrong with that", as Seinfeld would say, but it was distracting. They couldn't even bother to try to improve the comedy - and this was supposed to be a situation *comedy*, for crying out loud! This week? We got more of Westfedlt's cleavage, not enough jokes. And why is this episode called "The blackout", anyway? It revolves mostly around a blog set up by Cooper. No wonder there was no third season.