In his second bid for sitcom stardom (the first was the late, unlamented Encore! Encore!), Broadway favorite Nathan Lane starred as Charlie Lawrence, a gay TV actor who forsook his popular weekly series "Guppy Sherman" to enter politics. Appointed to fill out the term of a recently deceased New Mexico congressman, Charlie did his best to use his showbiz savvy to cut through the deeply ingrained B.S. of Washington, D.C., and sometimes actually succeeded. The cookie-cutter supporting characters included Sarah (Laurie Metcalf), Charlie's uptight, no-nonsense chief of staff; Charlie's neighbor and friend Graydon Cord (Ted McGinley), a politician who happened to be a member of the loyal opposition; ditzy office manager Suzette Michaels (Stephanie Faracy), who couldn't see past Charlie's carefully cultivated TV image; and klutzy office intern Ryan Lemming (T.R. Knight), the son of a millionaire campaign contributor. Charlie Lawrence made its CBS bow on June 15, 2003.
by Hal Erickson
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