Love, Inc. (TV series)
Love, Inc. is an American television sitcom created by Andrew Secunda, which originally aired for one season on United Paramount Network (UPN) from September 22, 2005, to May 11, 2006. With an ensemble cast led by Busy Philipps, Vince Vieluf, Reagan Gomez-Preston, Ion Overman and Holly Robinson Peete, the show revolves around five matchmakers working at a dating agency. The series was produced by Chase TV, the Littlefield Company, Burg/Koules Television, and Paramount Television. It was distributed by UPN in its original run and later by LivingTV and Nelonen in the United Kingdom and Finland respectively. The executive producers were Adam Chase, Warren Littlefield, Mark Burg and Oren Koules.
For other uses, see Love, Inc.Love, Inc.
Andrew Secunda
- Kurt Farquhar
- Christopher Taylor
- Mika Lett
- Kurt Farquhar
- Steve Hopkins
United States
English
1
22
20–22 minutes
September 22, 2005 –
May 11, 2006
The series was originally developed as a vehicle and sitcom debut for Shannen Doherty under the working title Wingwoman. Though picked up by UPN, Doherty was removed from the project at the request of the network due to her poor reception by preview audiences; she was replaced by Philipps. The show was set in New York City, but filming took place at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles and other locations in California. It included contemporary hip hop music and was promoted heavily by UPN to attract an urban audience, and to that end it was paired with Everybody Hates Chris as its lead-in on Thursday nights.
Love, Inc. suffered from low viewership despite its high ratings among young Hispanic women; it was canceled following UPN's merger with the WB to launch the CW in 2006. The series' cancellation, along with that of other black sitcoms, was criticized by media outlets for reducing representation of African American characters and the amount of roles for African American actors on television. Critical response to Love, Inc. was mixed; some critics praised its multi-ethnic cast, while others felt that the storylines and characters were unoriginal and Philipps' portrayal of her character was unsympathetic.
Premise[edit]
Set in New York City, the dating agency Love, Inc. features a staff of single friends desperately looking for love. Newly divorced Clea Lavoy, the founder and owner of the company, seeks out the help of her friend and employee Denise Johnson to reignite her romantic life. She struggles continually to find love despite Denise's best attempts. The future of the agency is jeopardized since its success relied on advertising Clea's "successful", nearly decade-long marriage. Love, Inc. also includes the receptionist Viviana, the style expert Francine, and the technician and photographer Barry.[1][2]
Episodes typically depict the inner workings of the agency, such as their first experience with a lesbian client, a consultation with a former priest, and marketing strategies to appeal to geeks and agoraphobes.[2] Hired as wingmen for their clients, the employees act as "guardian angels for the conversationally challenged".[3] Each of the characters has various comedic and romantic adventures outside the agency, like Viviana's search for an eligible United States citizen to marry to secure a green card[1] and Denise's inability to find true love despite her talent in matching her clients with their "seemingly unattainable soulmates".[4]
The series features the following five main characters throughout its run:
Broadcast history[edit]
On August 6, 2005, UPN officially ordered thirteen episodes of the series. The network later ordered a full season of twenty-two episodes of the show on November 7, 2005, amid speculation that it would be canceled.[63] In 2006, LivingTV broadcast the series in the United Kingdom,[64] and it was broadcast by Nelonen in Finland in 2008.[65][66] UPN paired the series with Everybody Hates Chris, Eve, and Cuts[28] to attract an "urban" audience.[67] The network moved WWE SmackDown to Fridays in favor of scheduling Thursdays as focused on sitcoms. This decision was made to establish a "night of scripted programming" and to attract more advertising from film studios to promote upcoming releases.[68] Today questioned the network's belief that Love, Inc. and Everybody Hates Chris would appeal to the same viewership,[67] and noted the difference in quality between the two, with Love, Inc. cited as the inferior show.[10] While the series retained 59% of the audience from Everybody Hates Chris initially,[69] this marketing strategy proved unsuccessful when it lost a majority of the viewership in later episodes.[70]
Cericola reported that Love, Inc. earned an average of 3.6 million viewers per episode[63] and an article in The Hollywood Reporter stated that the series garnered an average of 1.0/3 Nielsen rating/share in the 18–49 demographic. It ranked 141st among broadcast television networks in the 2005–2006 television season.[71] According to the Nielsen Company, the show achieved high ratings among "Latina adolescents Ages 12–17" and earned 3.4 million viewers in that demographic in 2005. It ranked above two other UPN sitcoms: One on One and Half & Half for Latin women in the 12–17 age demographic,[72] and in "the top half of all UPN series" for total viewership.[69] The series premiere saw a 6% increase in the 18–49 age range, 53% in women between 18 and 34, and 118% in women between 18 and 49 from the show that aired in the same time period during the previous television season.[73]
The show, as well as a majority of UPN's programs, were officially canceled as a result of the network's merger with the WB Television Network (the WB) to form the CW in 2006.[74] Fern Gillespie of The Crisis was critical of UPN's decision to cancel the series given how the network "in one swoop, wiped out five of its eight African American comedies" for the creation of the CW. Gillespie expressed disappointment at the lack of African American sitcoms on the three major networks saying: "Without that opportunity for some of the younger artists to hone and develop their skills, it will potentially have a generational impact."[75] Critic Tim Goodman identified Love, Inc. as one of six shows "geared for an African American audience" and featuring "an African American lead actress" that were canceled during the merger. He equated these cancellations as a sign of networks "eliminat[ing] niche programming".[76] The series has not been made available on Blu-ray or DVD.[2][77]