"Samantha Who" - Season Premiere

The season premiere of Samantha Who was a score. The premise: A woman wakes from a coma with no memory of her life. We meet Samantha (Christina Applegate) the moment she wakes. We meet her surrounded by her weird but sweet parents and her bubbly, dorky, endearing best friend, Dena (the fabulous and hysterically funny Melissa McCarthy). Samantha is vulnerable, shy, and open. And we love her. She leaves the hospital with her unfamiliar parents (Jean Smart and Kevin Dunn) and boyfriend, Todd (the handsome Barry Watson), in tow. Soon after we learn that this ugly truth about the dear and lovely Samantha. She isn't dear or lovely at all.

Samantha had lived her past life as a mean girl - a ruthless, heartless person, who is estranged from her family, has poor values, broken relationships, one adorable boyfriend (or ex-boyfriend), and one self-absorbed and shallow best friend, Andrea (Jennifer Esposito). Oh, and did I mention that she is an alcoholic with 30 days of sobriety under her belt? We realize that Samantha hasn't spoken to her parents in years. We learn that her boyfriend is really her ex-boyfriend and that she has cheated on him for a good portion of their relationship. We learn that the bubbly, sweet, endearing, and dorky Dena that we met (and loved) as her best friend has not been Samantha's friend since the 7^th grade. Not since Samantha became popular and dropped her friend like a bad habit. Lastly, we discover that Samantha has one terrible and insincere friend, Andrea (Jennifer Esposito). Andrea and Dena act as the angel and the devil perched on Samantha's shoulders, urging her to live a certain way. We root for the angel. We root for Samantha to win back the affection and trust of Todd. We root for Samantha to heal her broken relationship with her parents. We want Samantha to get the good stuff. At least, I did.

I loved the show. It reminded me of the movie 13 Going on 30 with Jennifer Garner. Samantha Who takes us into a ruined life, one that was built without heart, and places a woman with all heart smack dab in the middle of it. It is a show about choices, consequences, goodness, second chances and reinvention. Who doesn't want the opportunity to do that from time to time? The show has amazing potential. Aside from all of that: Any show that creatively finds a way to sneak the Pina Colada Song into the head of the main character has forever won my affection.

"If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain. If you're not into yoga, if you have half-a-brain. If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
I'm the lady you've looked for, write to me, and escape."

Song by: Rupert Holmes - Escape (The Pina Colada Song)