November 22, 2024
Review

Casting, snappy dialogue strong points for NBC’s new ‘Leap of Faith’

Does this sitcom concept sound familiar? Four Manhattan-based friends in their 30s regularly get together for catty chats about relationships.

If you guessed “Sex in the City,” you’re on the right track. “Leap of Faith” is the creation of Jenny Bicks, Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning writer and producer of that HBO series. It debuts at 8:30 tonight on NBC, so that means less sex in the city, both in word and deed.

Still, that doesn’t leave it without any redeeming qualities. It does have some snappy dialogue and is well-cast. Best of all, it’s not “Three Sisters,” which it’s replacing on the schedule. I’ll take a bitch-fest over a hug-fest any day.

“Leap of Faith” centers on Faith Wardwell (played by Sarah Paulson, “Jack & Jill”), an advertising copywriter who falls for a Brad Pitt-look-alike actor and breaks it off with her safe-but-boring fiance only days before their wedding.

This move is a real blow for her eccentric socialite mother (Jill Clayburgh), who’s been wed three times but still espouses the sanctity of marriage (or at least of a Times wedding announcement).

But her tight circle of friends support her decision. There’s Patty (Lisa Edelstein), her single co-worker who’s looking for Mr. Right Now. There’s Cynthia (Regina King), her no-nonsense married neighbor who always speaks her mind. On the male side, there’s Andy (Ken Marino), a Rolling Stone reporter who’s her best friend from college.

Then there’s her boss, Lucas (Tim Meadows, “Saturday Night Live”), who attempts to keep Faith’s mind on her job.

“Leap of Faith” follows Faith’s tentative steps back into singlehood, as she struggles to not fall for her actor crush while totally letting go of her fiance and the safety he represents. How Faith develops will determine whether “Faith” leaps or plummets.

“Leap of Faith” isn’t even the strongest sitcom in its timeslot, but it does offer an enjoyable alternative to the college comedy “Undeclared.”


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