Girls will be girls
San Francisco Examiner
By Sonia Mansfield

'American' woman "The American Embassy," debuting at 9 p.m. Monday on Fox, is not "Ally McBeal Goes to London" as some people might assume. Yes, the new dramedy has a beautiful leading lady. Yes, she's single and sometimes a little neurotic. Yes, the beautiful leading lady's workplace features some eccentric co-workers and unusual job duties. Yes, the show has a female singer on the soundtrack throughout the episodes. But, that's where the similarities end. I swear.

"The American Embassy" is nowhere near as annoying and, in fact, it's much better than the current disaster known as "Ally McBeal." Coincidentally, Fox is giving "The American Embassy" a six-week trial run in the "Ally" timeslot. My guess is if "The American Embassy" does well, it will take over that timeslot permanently in the fall. Not too difficult a feat, considering the free-fall "Ally" has suffered in the ratings this season. The show even stooped as low as to give Ally a daughter, who if I'm not mistaken is named Cousin Oliver.

But enough about "Ally McBeal," let's talk about "The American Embassy." Midwestern girl Emma Brody (Arija Bareikis from "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo") is leaving behind friends, family and a cheating boyfriend to take a job as vice consul at the United States Embassy in London. On her first day of work, Emma is introduced to a ton of co-workers including Elque (Jonathan Adams, who had a guest starring role on "Frasier"), Janet (Helen Carey from "Black Knight"), Carmen (Davenia McFadden, who a reoccurring role on "Becker") and Liz (Reiko Aylesworth from the failed TV show "All Souls").

And she instantly bonds with her cross-dressing neighbor Gary (Michael Cerveris from "The Mexican")

She also catches the eye of handsome, yet mysterious CIA agent Doug Roach (David Cubitt from "Ali") and a hot British Lord named James Wellington (Nicholas Irons), who is engaged to be married. That's right. She's in London for like two days and already two hunky guys are vying for her affections. Oh, to have her problems. On top of that, James has got an even hotter brother Jack (Jonathan Cake from the 1999 "Noah's Ark" TV movie), who will appear in upcoming episodes. I'm sure he will be all smitten with Emma too. "The American Embassy" is a jammed-packed first episode.

Emma almost joins the mile-high club, loses her luggage, deals with a child-custody issue, tries to help out a naked man in the embassy lobby, and copes with a terrorist bombing all within the first couple of days. But, thanks to a strong script and an appealing leading lady in Bareikis, the show has no problem juggling the multiple plotlines. With the voice-over narration (in the form of emails to her sister), "The American Embassy" plays as a cross between an American "Bridget Jones" and "The West Wing."

You know, it's a pleasure to watch a show that isn't 1) filmed in Los Angeles or New York or on sets made up to look like Los Angeles or New York; 2) about a bunch of neurotic yet beautiful twenty-somethings looking for love; 3) a reality show; or 4) "Ally McBeal." TV notes

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