‘Samantha Who?’: What to expect now that she’s back
Source: Zap2It’s Korbi TV
It’s been so long since we last saw a fresh episode of “Samantha Who?” — almost four months in fact — that not only do you and I not remember what Christina Applegate‘s character was up to, neither does she.
“Oh, gosh, I don’t even know, who was she dating last?,” Applegate wondered aloud when I asked her about Sam’s romantic prospects in the next six episodes, which start airing this evening.
Still, it didn’t take long for the name Todd (Barry Watson) to come up. “Todd and Sam are living together and spending a lot of time together now. So we’re trying to figure out who we are and what our feelings are for each other,” she explained.
So, what are their feelings? Well, Todd’s way into her. But Samantha’s pretty clueless, so don’t expect a rekindling anytime soon, even if Christina does believe Todd’s the one for Sam. “I think people like to see that Sam and Diane sort of thing play out,” she told me (pretty sure Sam is actually Diane in this analogy).
As for the show’s supporting players, Dena (Melissa McCarthy) is not only in a committed relationship right now, but she’s kind of got one on the side as well. And Andrea (Jennifer Esposito) has a steady man too… though their relationship is destined for failure. Her dude is sticking around for a bit though, and it should be fun to watch. Tune in tonight and you’ll get why…
Bruce in Pasadena, Calif.: Are Samantha Who?‘s Samantha and Todd ever going to see the light that they should be together?
In the March 26 episode, Samantha and Todd do go out on a date, but before you get too excited, it’s a double date to help out BFF Andrea, who is afraid to go out with her text-only BF Tony Dale (McKinley Freeman) alone. Though Sam doesn’t view it as a date date, Todd has grown more uneasy about his real feelings for her. Samantha finally realizes the two need to talk about his feelings for her and her feelings about his feelings for her. Confused? So is she. Without giving the ending away, there is a twist at the end that might just put this pair back at square one.
Christina Applegate Dishes on Samantha Who?‘s Unforgettable Return
by Tim Molloy, TV Guide
Samantha Who?
Christina Applegate had the kind of 2008 she might want to forget, including the death of her ex-boyfriend and a brave fight with breast cancer. But talking to TVGuide.com about Samantha Who?‘s return from a long winter break (ABC, Thursday, 8:30 pm) the former Kelly Bundy was all spring and sunshine. She told us about Samantha’s lingering issues with amnesia, a fresh Winston Funk (Billy Zane), and what’s going on with Samantha and Todd (Barry Watson).
TVGuide.com: After the terrible year you had, how happy were you to get to go back to work and mix it up with your cast mates?
Christina Applegate: I really missed them. I miss them now and I can’t believe if we go in for a third season it won’t be for another five months. It’s hard. Those are my friends now. I really miss being around them. It was great to finally go back after everything and put my mind into something else and go back to my show.
TVGuide.com: What can we look forward to this season?
Applegate: There’s a lot of changes in everyone’s lives, actually. We decided to concentrate on giving everyone else a life outside of Samantha. And so there’s a lot of scenes I’m not in where the girls are together. And that I really like to watch because you really want to see who these people are. … There’s a new job in store for Samantha — kind of a new, old job. She ends up going back and working at Chapman and Funk, in a different capacity.
TVGuide.com: With someone new playing Funk.
Applegate: Fortunately and unfortunately, we lost Timothy Olyphant as our Winston Funk, who he played in our first season, because he’s doing Damages.
TVGuide.com: Fortunately because he’s replaced by Billy Zane. Is there any witty acknowledgment of that, like “Oh, Winston, you look different today?” Hopefully wittier than that…
Applegate: No, you know what, she has amnesia, so who knows, she doesn’t know really. I think they both have a very similar quality so I don’t think people will be too thrown off-course. Since it was a year-and-a half-ago. We’re hoping they don’t really remember. [Laughs.]
TVGuide.com: In the return episode, Todd seems to be getting serious feelings for Samantha again and she has to decide what to do about that.
Applegate: With those two there’s always this push-and-pull, push-and-pull, push-and-pull kind of thing. I don’t know if they’re ever going to solve it… . There’s five more episodes that they may or may not show and there’s some really big things that happen in those with those two. I hope that we get a chance to show them. … We’re only scheduled to air six right now and we have eleven.
TVGuide.com: Oh shucks.
Applegate: Yeah, kinda shucks. So hopefully people will get to see those other five, because there’s some really cool stuff that happens.
Billy Zane Not Walking Down Memory Lane on Samantha Who
Source: TV Guide Online
Billy Zane
Billy Zane seems sometimes like a product of old Hollywood. His classic-movie star looks helped him land the role for which he remains best-known — Cal, Kate Winslet’s diabolical fiance in Titanic — as well as his starring role in 1996’s The Phantom, another period throwback. His new role on Samantha Who? lands him securely in the here and now, but the past lingers again: He’s playing Winston Funk, a character previously played by Timothy Olyphant, who departed to appear on Damages.
Zane’s found an easy way to deal with the ghosts of the past, however: ignoring them. To play Funk, for example, he didn’t even watch Olyphant’s take on the character. “It felt like doing any other role,” he told TVGuide.com. “They were pretty keen on wanting me to make it my own. I think they were kind of happy with where I was going with it so we just ran with it.”
The decision not to dwell fits in perfectly with Samantha Who?, a show built around Samantha (Christina Applegate) losing her memory and realizing the person she used to be wasn’t very nice. Funk was Samantha’s boss in her previous incarnation, and Zane’s episodes, which begin Thursday (ABC, 8:30 pm/ET), reunite them.
“She comes up with the notion of running his foundation and trying to bring him a little bit of a conscience,” Zane says. “He’s like, ‘Right. Helping. Sure. Whatever gets you in the house.'”
Zane plays Funk as a benevolent playboy — a perfect counter to Todd (Barry Watson), Samantha’s regular-guy love interest. “He’s pretty crafty — a wily businessman, and it bleeds over into his personal life, his leveraging. And while it’s, I’m sure, completely infuriating to her, it’s endearing because the end game is genuine.”
Whether viewers will get to see the end game this year — or ever — is up in the air: the show’s season finale is scheduled for April 30, but the cast has shot five additional episodes. They could air next season, if the show is picked up again.
Zane spoke to us on what happened to be the 97th anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking. He said the best legacy of the film has been the chance it’s given him to highlight charities like MylifE, which helps get South African teens off the street. He got involved with it while making his new film, Darfur.
After a career focused on film, Zane says one of his favorite parts of Samantha Who? is joining a well-oiled television machine — the kind that ruled in an earlier era.
“I think just my aesthetic harks back to that era,” he says. “I definitely have a soft spot for the nostalgia of this industry. I like the color palette, the lenses used, the style. I like the censorship, believe it or not. You had to play with implying and suggestion rather than blatant shock value.”
Spoiler Junkie 