DVD Review: Happily Divorced - Season One by R.J. Carter Published: March 27, 2012

Her post-The Nanny career has had a few hiccups ("The Beautician and the Beast," Living with Fran), but it seems Fran Drescher has found her groove again with the Nick at Nite original comedy Happily Divorced. Based on an incident in her own life when her husband, Peter Marc Jacobson (who co-produces this show with her) confessed his homosexuality, Happily Divorced follows the lives of Fran and Peter Lovett (the latter played by John Michael Higgins) as they remain best friends as well as stumbling blocks to each other's dating lives. Part of the problem is that the real estate market is in such a lull neither one of them can afford to move out of the home they shared, so they continue to cohabitate, with Peter moving to the den.

Hijinks ensue -- as do regular and guest appearances by several TV sitcom veterans. Drescher and Higgins are joined by cast regulars Tichina Arnold (Everybody Hates Chris), Valente Rodriguez (George Lopez), Robert Walden and Rita Moreno as their inner circle of friends and family. Arnold portrays Judi Mann, a chanteuse at the local gay bar Fran and Peter frequent, while Valente plays the overly nosy assistant at Fran's floral shop. Walden and Moreno are cast as Fran's parents, Glen and Dori, who are eager to see her get remarried but still see Peter as their son.

The show is a bit racy for the home of classic television that airs it, which may put some of the more staid viewers off. It's great to see Charles Shaugnessy guest star, and all the old bits from The Nanny winked at; but to find he's a bisexual with a sneaky intent to bed both Fran and Peter at the same time? Of course, looking for love in all the wrong places is the consistent theme of the series, with Peter striking out at every turn and Fran having even less luck -- usually because the relationships are accidentally sabotaged by the needs of the other ex-partner. Peter Marc Jacobson himself appears as a potential beau for Peter, which made for some nice self-referential humor, and Renee Taylor has come on as a friend of Dori's who misunderstands which of the two came out as gay.

Perhaps the longest trial relationship of the show begins in the first episode (several weeks having passed during the commercial break) as Fran meets Elliot (Friday Night Lights' D.W. Moffett), a music producer. Their on-again, off-again romance gets slightly spoiled however when Elliot tries to make up with his ex-wife, and then still wants to see Fran afterward. Whether he'll return in the second season is up in the air, but certainly possible.

Bonus features on this 2-disc release are comprised of multiple interview segments -- Fran Drescher and Peter Marc Jacobson; John Michael Higgins; Valente Rodriguez; Rita Moreno and Robert Walden -- as they talk up their characters and interactions with the others on the set. Of course, any show with Fran Drescher is going to be an excercise in fashion, so we also get an interview with costume designer Brenda Cooper, followed by an interview with Gavin Lurrsen and Ran Pink about the composing of the catchy theme song (on accordion and ukelele). Rounding out the extras is a Public Service promo from Drescher for her cancer awareness foundation, Cancer Schmancer.

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DVD Review: Happily Divorced - Season One