In This Case The Good Is Lovespring International
By Gabi Conti / LA
Before Sue Slyvester—
Jane Lynch starred in this delightful TV show I stumbled across on Hulu called Lovespring International.
The opening title card says it all:
“An elite Beverly Hills Dating Service”
“Located in Tarzana, California”.
Genius.
And that’s basically the only thing that’s “scripted” in this show as it is completely improvised. Much like Curb Your Enthusiasm is. All the actors get are beat sheet’s which break down what happens in the story, what they do in each scene, and in the beginning would have gotten some background on their character. Which explains why there is no “written by” credit just “story by” and “created by.”
The timing for Hulu featuring this show on their homepage was perfect. Now with Hulu Plus there are a lot of series you can’t watch on the regular Hulu without the $7.99 subscription. Which is annoying, but fitting with the saying “there’s no such thing as a free lunch” and in this case the “lunch” is the complete series of Ugly Betty. I guess I’ll never know if Betty gets pretty. Sigh.
So back to Lovespring. The show aired on Lifetime in 2006 and lived for a short season. My guess is the audience that watches LifeTime Original movies was just not ready for this comedic sensation. Would’ve been better placed on NBC, especially since the executive producer is Eric McCormack who you may remember as Will from Will & Grace, one of the real “musts” of NBC’s Must See TV line-up.
What makes Lovespring International so addicting (I watched five episodes in one sitting) is the cast of characters. Right in the pilot you see how these characters clash and complement each other. This is key.
We have Jane Lynch, the manager, always taking “vacations,” which a co-worker thinks is code for getting work done. She really cares about the company, her clients and her staff. Especially with LoveSpring dying due to online dating (that’s the struggle).
The show also stars Jennifer Elise Cox, who you might remember as Jan from the Brady Bunch movies who delivers a spot on performance of a shallow, Hello Kitty obsessed receptionist who lacks a sensor.
There’s also Wendi McLendon-Covey who you might know from Reno 911. She’s a matchmaker who’s in a 20 year committed relationship… with a married man.
When I tweeted “so happy to discover Lovespring International on Hulu,” she tweeted right back “YES! Glad you’re diggin’ it! We had a fun time making it.”
Which to quote Miley Cyrus from SNL’s The Miley Cyrus Show, I found “pretty cool.”
Another matchmaker, and a friendly rival of Lydia is played by Sam Pancake (what a cool name) who plays the flamboyant but “happily married to a WOMAN,” self-proclaimed vice president of Lovespring, Burke Kristopher.
We also have the psychiatrist, Steve Morris played by Jack Plotnick. His mustache is very Ron Swanson minus the whole alpha male persona. The pilot hints that Steve may be a sex offender, but he is good at what he does, being the voice of reason in the group.
And last but not least there’s Alex Odom played by Mystro Clark. The videographer who takes his job of putting together all those dating tapes very seriously.
And here’s the best part about the show: every episode features a new guest star or client who brings humor and conflict. Guest stars include Eric McCormack himself and even Sean Hayes (aka “Just Jack” from Will & Grace).
While there only is 8 episodes of the season long series, I urge you to check out this gem on Hulu, before they charge you $7.99 a month to watch it.
Happy Huluing.
Ex oh ex oh,
Chocolate Covered Classics 
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