Accidentally on Purpose (TV series)

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Accidentally on Purpose
Accidentally on Purpose logo.gif
GenreSituation comedy
Written byMary F. Pols (book)
StarringJenna Elfman
Jon Foster
Ashley Jensen
Nicolas Wright
Grant Show
Lennon Parham
Theme music composerDavid Fagin
Opening theme"Birds of a Feather"
by The Rosenbergs
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes18
Production
Executive producer(s)Claudia Lonow
Gail Berman
Lloyd Braun
Eugene Stein
Camera setupFilm; Multi-camera
Running time23 minutes
Production companiesBermanBraun
CBS Productions
Broadcast
Original channelCBS
Original runSeptember 21, 2009 – April 21, 2010
Chronology
Related showsBased on the book by Mary F. Pols
Accidentally on Purpose is an American television situation comedy series that ran on CBS from September 21, 2009 to April 21, 2010 during the 2009–10 season.[1] The series stars Jenna Elfman and was produced by BermanBraun and CBS Productions. The show is based on the book of the same name by Mary F. Pols.[2]
On May 18, 2010, CBS cancelled the series after one season.

Plot[edit]

Accidentally on Purpose follows Billie (Jenna Elfman), a San Francisco movie critic in her 30s. Billie meets Zack (Jon Foster), an aspiring chef in his 20s, at a local bar and they have a one-night stand. She soon finds out that she is pregnant, and decides to keep the baby. She must simultaneously deal with her boss and ex-boyfriend, James (Grant Show), who finds himself jealous of Zack. Before the story began, she had hoped that James would ask her to marry him, but he told her that he was not ready because he was married once before.
Thanks to this unexpected arrival, Billie and Zack have agreed to live together platonically, since the only place that Zack has called home was his van. While Billie receives encouragement and advice from her alcoholic girl best friend Olivia (Ashley Jensen) and her conventional, younger, married sister Abby (Lennon Parham), she also has to deal with Zack's freeloading friend Davis (Nicolas Wright), among others, when they start turning her place into a frat house, leaving Billie to question whether she is living with a boyfriend, a roommate, or a second child to raise.[3]

Theme song[edit]

The theme song for the show is "Birds of a Feather", written by David Fagin of the indie-rock band The Rosenbergs.[4] The song is on their album Department Store Girl.[5]

History[edit]

On November 3, 2009, CBS ordered an additional five episodes of the series, bringing the total to 18.[6] In early 2010 CBS moved Accidentally on Purpose to Wednesday nights from Mondays, to accommodate the midseason return of Rules of Engagement and the cancellation of Gary Unmarried. However, after the ratings slipped CBS elected not to renew the series and on May 18, 2010, made the cancellation official; the cancellation was part of CBS' decision to eliminate all of its Wednesday night comedies in favor of trying a Thursday-night block.

Critical reception[edit]

Accidentally on Purpose received mixed reviews, scoring a 49/100 on Metacritic, while scoring a 6.2/10 with viewers.[7] The New York Times, in a review of the show's first episode, called Grant Show's performance "graceful" and said Elfman is as "funny as the script allows, in that broad, robo-comic way you may remember from Dharma & Greg."[8]
The series had an average of eight million viewers per episode while airing on Mondays after How I Met Your Mother, but fell to an average of 5.5 million of viewers per episode while airing on Wednesdays after The New Adventures of Old Christine,[original research?] which was also canceled in 2010.[9]

Cast[edit]

Crew[edit]

Episodes[edit]

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateU.S. viewers
(in millions)
1"Pilot"Pamela FrymanClaudia LonowSeptember 21, 20098.91[10]
Billie (Jenna Elfman) meets Zack (Jon Foster), an aspiring chef in his 20s, at a local bar and they have a one-night stand at his friend's apartment. She soon finds out that she is pregnant from the fling and decides to keep the baby. She must simultaneously deal with her boss and ex-boyfriend, James, who finds himself jealous of Zack. Before the story began, she had hoped that James would ask her to marry him, but he told her that he was not ready because he was married once before. Thanks to this unexpected arrival, Billie and Zack have agreed to live together platonically, since the only place that Zack has called home was his van. While Billie receives encouragement and advice from her party girl best friend (and fellow journalist) Olivia (Ashley Jensen) and her conventional, younger, married sister Abby (Lennon Parham), she also has to deal with Zack's freeloading friend Davis (Nicolas Wright), among others, when they start turning her place into a frat house, leaving Billie to question whether she is living with a boyfriend, a roommate, or if she just has a second child to raise. 
2"Memento"Pamela FrymanGregg MettlerSeptember 28, 20098.02
When Billie tries to find more about Zack, he becomes evasive. While snooping through Zack's belongings Billie discovers a note addressed to her, that he never finished writing. Meanwhile, Zack gets an offer which means that he may have to leave Billie and his unborn child. 
3"One Night Stand"Ted WassVince CalandraOctober 5, 20097.17[11]
Billie's pregnancy causes bodily and hormonal changes in her, causing men to hit on her. Meanwhile, Zack refuses to have sex with Billie after she tries to have sex with him, due to a very embarrassing reason. 
4"The Date"John PasquinCynthia GreenburgOctober 12, 20097.73[12]
Billie and Zack discuss their feelings on dating and agree to see other people, however, Billie's pregnancy gets in the way of any potential love connections and Zack's date does not go as planned. 
5"The Love Guru"Andrew D. WeymanBill Kunstler & Alison McDonaldOctober 19, 20098.26[13]
Billie tries to live vicariously through Zack and Davis by offering up dating advice to them. However, things take a turn, when the objects of the boys' affection reveal their true intentions. Meanwhile, James tries to hook up with teenagers by pretending to be one himself. Abby ends up irritating Olivia after she sends a friend request to the latter on Facebook. 
6"Fight Club"Andrew D. WeymanBill KunstlerNovember 2, 20098.08[14]
Billie and Zack have their first big argument after Zack tries to surprise Billie by installing a low flow toilet. Billie becomes the butt of jokes when her waxing appointment is halted due to Zack and Davis. Billie's baby kicks for the first time. 
7"The Godfather"David TrainerVince Calandra & Cynthia GreenburgNovember 9, 20097.89[15]
Billie unintentionally causes Abby and Nick to break up when she asks them to be Godparents. However, after a fun night on the town with Davis goes too far, Billie must stop Abby before she does something she will regret. Also, Billie has to work with Sullivan "Sully" Boyd, a fellow worker, which does not please Zack or James, as both think that Sully has a thing for pregnant women. 
8"The Third Man"John PasquinMike DieffenbachNovember 16, 20097.27
When Billie starts dating a colleague from her newspaper, Zack and James are unable to hide his jealousy. 
9"Working Girl"Ted WassAndrea Abbate & David HoldenNovember 23, 20097.89[16]
Billie is threatened when James hires another film critic at the paper and sets out to prove how valuable she is. Meanwhile, Abby tries to make Olivia pay her share of tab. 
10"Class"Barnet KellmanFranklyn Hardy & Shane KosakowskiDecember 7, 20097.91[17]
Billie and Zack take instructional parenting classes separately due to their schedules. Zack intends to meet some other fathers as most of his other friends are not at this stage of life yet, but instead makes friends with a lesbian couple. Billie goes with Olivia and Abby. While Zack shines in his class, Abby outshines Billie at all the tasks. The lesbian couple guides Davis to another lesbian couple to help him get laid, which yields unexpected results. Abby starts taking pole dancing lessons. 
11"It Happened One Christmas"Gail MancusoGregg Mettler & Claudia LonowDecember 14, 20098.81[18]
Worried that she'll ruin Christmas, as she has in previous years, Billie tries to hide from her parents the fact that Zack is living with her. Zach spends Christmas with Davis and he realises that Billie is the coolest women he's ever met. When he returns to the apartment he proposes to Billie. Meanwhile, Abby's husband, Nick, tries to impress their father. 
12"The Odd Couples"Ted WassMike Dieffenbach & David HoldenJanuary 11, 20108.43[19]
Zach tried to get along with Nick, but he is too strange for him. When Billie tells Abby their Zach doesn't like Nick, they fight and Abby decides to not to arrange Billie's baby shower. Davis pretends to be Dave Grohl's younger brother to impress a girl. Billie and Zach discover the gender of their child-thanks to Abby. 
13"The Rock"Andrew D. WeymanAlison McDonald & Andrea AbbateJanuary 18, 20109.56[20]
Billie and Sully have to work on a story, but due to her embarrassing him previously, Sully is reluctant. Billie forces Olivia to flirt with Sully until their story is printed. Everybody gets a shock when James is axed and tells them that any one of them could be next. Zack begins a new business venture with Davis as his partner, while Olivia is caught on the newspaper's security camera. 
14"Attack of the 50 Foot Woman"Ted WassClaudia Lonow & Bill Kunstler & David HoldenFebruary 1, 20108.42
Billie is happy when the baby's crib arrives, until she finds that neither Zack nor Davis is keen to assemble it. Her efforts to manipulate Zack create an even bigger mess, eventually leading to a fight between her and Zack. Meanwhile, Davis is working in a gay bar (pretending to be gay), to get some extra cash. An unsuspecting Zack is pulled his charade when a bar patron takes interest in Davis. 
15"Back to School"David TrainerFranklin Hardy & Shane KosakowskiFebruary 8, 20109.10[21]
Billie invites herself to Zack's high school reunion but worries that she can't compete with his hot ex-girlfriend Melissa. Meanwhile, Olivia helps Abby host a party where they try to sell Abby's miracle youth juice. Davis reveals a dirty secret about Melissa to Billie, but it turns out that it was not exactly a secret for Zack. Ryan crashes Zack's reunion pretending to be a student, but gets some painful memories at the reunion. 
16"Face Off"Ted WassJenn Lloyd & Kevin BonaniApril 7, 20106.03[22]
Zack is upset when Billie hires a baby nurse without consulting him. Davis and Ryan soon find out that Zack is right. Meanwhile, Abby tries to mend the fences between Olivia and her less then ideal mother. 
17"Speed (Part 1)"Ted WassDavid Rosenthal & DJ NashApril 14, 20105.90[23]
Billie pretends to go into labor to save Zack from getting a traffic ticket after they're pulled over for speeding. Meanwhile, Olivia and Davis end up sleeping together. Nick and Abby get an opportunity to go to a star studded premiere that Billie missed, but Abby isn't as happy with the opportunity as she thought she would be. To be continued... 
18"Speed (Part 2)"Ted WassClaudia LonowApril 21, 20105.22[24]
After faking labor pains to get Zack out of a speeding ticket, Billie goes into labor – for real. Unfortunately, things take a turn when Zack gets busted by the officer they had initially lied to and is hauled off to the police station. Abby goes to bail Zack, but ends up with him as well. In the end, it is Olivia who unexpectedly saves the day. Billie gives birth to her baby, Henry, and agrees to marry Zack. 

International releases[edit]

Country / RegionNetwork(s)Premiere
CanadaCity[25]September 2009
CroatiaFox Life
Bosnia and HerzegovinaFox Life
AustraliaNetwork TenDecember 2009
NetherlandsNET 5June 8, 2010
IrelandTV3 IrelandJuly 3, 2010
BrazilSony Entertainment TelevisionFebruary 4, 2010
Latin AmericaSony Entertainment TelevisionMarch 4, 2010
United KingdomE4June 17, 2010
PhilippinesStudio 23, Velvet, STAR WorldTBA, June 4, 2010, June 7, 2010
IndonesiaSTAR WorldNovember 2012
IsraelYes Stars ComedyApril 2010
ItalyFox Life (Italy)March 11, 2011
MacedoniaFox LifeSeptember 2010
JapanFox LifeApril 2010
PolandComedy CentralMay 17, 2010
PortugalFox Life, Fox Life HDJune 27, 2010
New ZealandC4August 3, 2010
SloveniaTV3 SloveniaOctober 18, 2010 (Weekdays at 6pm)
DenmarkTV 2 ZuluDecember 2010
NorwayTV 2December 29, 2010
SlovakiaTV JOJFebruary 20, 2011
South AfricaSABC 3June 27, 2011
GreeceSkai TVSeptember 13, 2011
FinlandNelonenJanuary 6, 2012
SerbiaB92 and Fox Life

References[edit]

  1. Jump up^ Matt Mitovich (June 24, 2009). "Fall TV: CBS Announces Premiere Dates". TV Guide Online.Archived from the original on June 26, 2009. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
  2. Jump up^ Carter, Bill (May 18, 2009). "Upfronts: CBS to Add Six Shows". The New York Times.
  3. Jump up^ "Breaking News – CBS Confirms Six Newcomers". TheFutonCritic.com. May 18, 2009. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
  4. Jump up^ [1][dead link]
  5. Jump up^ Department Store Girl at the Rosenbergs' website
  6. Jump up^ Schneider, Michael (November 3, 2009). "CBS picks up more 'Purpose'". Variety.
  7. Jump up^ "Accidentally on Purpose – Season 1 Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
  8. Jump up^ Hale, Mike (September 20, 2009). "Older Woman, Younger Man and Baby Makes Three". The New York Times. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
  9. Jump up^ Exton, Emily (May 18, 2010). "Breaking: CBS cancels 'Ghost Whisperer' and 'Old Christine' | Inside TV | EW.com". Insidetv.ew.com. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
  10. Jump up^ "CBS wins Premiere week in viewers and adults 25–54". CBS PressExpress. September 29, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
  11. Jump up^ Monday night broadcast national final Nielsen numbers. Tv by the Numbers October 6, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
  12. Jump up^ CBS wins Monday in Key demos. CBS PressExpress October 13, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
  13. Jump up^ The Biggest Bang Yet!. Tv by the Numbers October 20, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
  14. Jump up^ Monday Broadcast Finals: Castle doesn’t drop; Heroes, Trauma do. Tv by the Numbers November 3, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
  15. Jump up^ Monday Finals: House, Gossip Girl, Big Bang and others up, Castle, DWTS down a tick. Tv by the Numbers November 10, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
  16. Jump up^ Monday Broadcast Finals: Castle holds season-high adults 18–49 rating. Tv by the Numbers November 24, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
  17. Jump up^ Monday Finals: Big Bang Theory drops a tick, Castle drops two ticks. Tv by the Numbers December 8, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
  18. Jump up^ Monday Broadcast Finals: CBS 8pm Hour Loses a Bit, “Find My Family” drops. Tv by the Numbers December 15, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
  19. Jump up^ Monday Broadcast Finals Plus Chuck Quarter Hour Detail. Tv by the Numbers January 12, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
  20. Jump up^ "Two and a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory" are the week's top two scripted programs in viewers and key demographics. CBS PressExpress January 26, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
  21. Jump up^ Super Night for CBS's comedy power hour. CBS PressExpress February 9, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
  22. Jump up^ Wednesday Finals: “CSI: NY” Dips Further + “South Park,” “In Plain Sight” and More. Tv by the Numbers April 8, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
  23. Jump up^ Wednesday Broadcast Finals: The Middle, Modern Family, Cougar Town Adjusted Up; Ugly Betty Down. Tv by the Numbers April 15, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
  24. Jump up^ Wednesday Broadcast Finals: Idol, L&O: SVU Adjusted Up; Accidentally On Purpose Down. Tv by the Numbers April 22, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
  25. Jump up^ k. ip, j.leung – copyright 2008 – Rogers Media Inc. "No Station Selected Show – Rogers TV Sales". Rogerstvsales.ca. Retrieved March 4, 2012.

External links[edit]