Star World continues with its Absolutely Comedy theme every weekday evening. The latest show to join the likes of Friends and Dharma & Greg is NBC’s Just Shoot Me. The good news is that unlike the other two shows which tend at times to get on one's nerves with the inanity of their goings on, this one benefits from strong writing and well drawn out characters. The show begins today and will air Monday- Friday at 7 pm.

It kicks off with journalist Maya Gallo played by Laura San Giacomo being fired from a reporter’s job. She made an news anchorwoman look stupid on the telly, something we in India have gotten used to seeing over the years. Nowhere to turn to, she makes contact with her father after a year. He runs the glamour magazine Blush. There are plenty of humorous asides here to the popular notions of what constitutes beauty. The resentment between the two melts somewhat and soon she is giving him advice on not to neglect his baby daughter as he had done with her.

The script has been thought of carefully. One interesting technique the pilot had was to show side headlines on the magazine such as 'Revenge: How low can one go?' This gives the viewer an idea of what to expect in the future as opposed to a Friends, which does look to be too plotless at times.

It helps that the woman seeking revenge ex-model Nina van Horn who works at Blush is played with delightful meanness by Wendie Mallick. Mallick you see is nervous that Gallo will take charge of the company. Gallo already appears to have talent at penning a relationship column. David Spade brings a cool breeze to the role of the company secretary Dennis Finch with a massive ego. It is a kick to hear him casually dismiss Elvis as a drug addict and even more to hear him try to make himself important in front of the models by acting like he is expecting a call from Cindy Crawford.

There are several avenues for the show to explore. There is the revenge angle. Then how Gallo gets on with her father's new wife should also make for interesting viewing. She was the high school homecoming queen at one time and was also Gallo’s classmate. There is some confusion in this reviewer's mind however as to what happened with his earlier marriage and is this just his second marriage or maybe a third. Another angle is the manner in which Gallo tries to change the tone of the magazine to become more serious and less forgettable.

Thanks to the smooth interaction between the characters the office seems realistic, as opposed to lumps of furniture. It is not surprising considering that NBC hired real models to make the show seem genuine. The show was nominated for six Emmy Awards and five Golden Globes. In the US it is in its seventh season. In sum Just Shoot Me is well worth checking out for those tired of repetitious cliches in the comedy genre.

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