AllMovie

It was all but inevitable that the most successful independently produced film of all time, 2002's My Big Fat Greek Wedding, would spawn a weekly, half-hour TV sitcom. What was not inevitable, and indeed a bit surprising, was that the CBS series My Big Fat Greek Life would feature virtually the entire cast of the original film -- with one noteworthy exception. Nia Vardalos, who created the movie and served as a co-executive producer for the TV version, reprised her screen role as Nia (originally Toula) Portokalos Miller, the new Greek-American bride of non-Greek teacher Ian Miller. The two lovebirds did their best to assert their independence, despite the well-meaning omnipresence and interference of Nia's colorful -- and bombastic -- Greek family. In addition to Vardalos, the series featured a number of carryovers from the film, among them Michael Constantine as Nia's domineering restauranteur father, Gus; Lainie Kazan as her eternally freeting mother, Maria; Louis Mandylor as her macho-man brother, Nick; Andrea Martin as advice-dispensing Aunt Voula; and Gia Carides as garrulous cousin Nikki. Conspicuous by his absence on the series was John Corbett, the original Ian Miller; his role was taken over by Steven Eckholdt. My Big Fat Greek Life first aired on February 24, 2003.