  Julia Louis-Dreyfus stars in The New Adventures of Old Christine, Wednesdays on CBS. |
Successful actors complain regularly about being type-cast. Their frustration is understandable.
However, there are benefits to instant recognizability, even if you forever are being associated with a particular role. Take Julia Louis-Dreyfus, for instance.
To multiple generations of Seinfeld fans, Louis-Dreyfus always will be known as Elaine Benes.
But since March 2006, Louis-Dreyfus has been starring in a largely anonymous CBS series called The New Adventures of Old Christine. She even won an Emmy Award for it three years ago.
Personally speaking, we’ve yet to run into more than a handful of people who have seen The New Adventures of Old Christine, assuming they even have heard of it in the first place. It’s so non-descript, we recall Jay Leno referring to it as “Old Caroline” on The Tonight Show a few years back, as Louis-Dreyfus looked on uncomfortably.
So how has The New Adventures of Old Christine, which airs Wednesday nights on CBS, managed to avoid the cancellation axe, when so many other shows have come and gone in the interim?
Because Julia Louis-Dreyfus always will be the woman who used to play Elaine Benes, that’s how.
We asked Louis-Dreyfus bluntly is she thinks the mere fact of her attachment to The New Adventures of Old Christine has allowed the show to survive for as long as it has. When it comes down to close calls about whether to keep a show or cancel a show, is her name a big factor to TV executives making tough decisions?
“Maybe it is,” a modest Louis-Dreyfus said.
“Yes,” said Kari Lizer, the creator of The New Adventures of Old Christine, far more definitively. “I think it is, yeah. I think that pushes us over the top. We’re sort of dangling from the cliff.”
“Don’t say that!” Louis-Dreyfus interjected.
“No, that’s never happened, we’re fine,” continued Lizer, with mock assurance. “But, yeah, I do think it helps. I think it helps to, at least, make a splash in some way when it’s hard to do nowadays.”
The New Adventures of Old Christine technically is in its fifth season. This coming Wednesday, Christine starts a relationship with a therapist played by Canadian actor Eric McCormack, who himself is best known for his role on a previous sitcom (Will & Grace).
Of course, Louis-Dreyfus also is appearing as a fictionalized version of herself on Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. David is the co-creator of Seinfeld and one of the main story arcs on Curb this season is a Seinfeld reunion featuring all four major cast members (Louis-Dreyfus, Jerry Seinfeld, Michael Richards and Jason Alexander).
“It was a great way to do the so-called reunion show because, in fact, it wasn’t a reunion,” Louis-Dreyfus said. “It is, but it also isn’t. I think it was the ideal way of doing it and not a sad way to do it.”
So in a continued effort to avoid sadness, Julia Louis-Dreyfus should remember the big picture and not worry too much about being type-cast.
After all, the role of Elaine Benes is the gift that keeps on giving. It’s a re-gifter.
