# Samantha Who? (2007)

> After an eight-day coma wipes her memory, a self-centered party girl must piece together the mess she made of her life and decide whether to become someone better.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/2603

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 35
- Episode runtime: 25 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: Donald Todd, Cecelia Ahern
- Network: ABC
- Cast: Christina Applegate, Jennifer Esposito, Kevin Dunn, Melissa McCarthy, Tim Russ, Barry Watson, Jean Smart, Nakia Burrise
- TMDB rating: 7.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898332/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: irreverent, breezy, sardonic, warm, cheeky

## What critics say

Audiences rated the series positively, praising its comedic energy and Christina Applegate's lead performance while it remained a modest, short-lived sitcom.

## Synopsis

Samantha Who? (2007-2009) is an American single-camera comedy series created by Donald Todd and Cecelia Ahern for ABC. Christina Applegate plays Samantha Newly, a party-loving woman who wakes from an eight-day coma with no memory of her reckless past, and Jennifer Esposito plays her loyal best friend Andrea Belladonna, who arrives with a cocktail and the inside story on every dirty deed. Jean Smart appears as Samantha's mother Regina Newly, adding pointed family friction to the mix. Each episode follows Samantha as she pieces together who she used to be, and the comic engine is the gap between that past and her attempts to start over and do it all again. The show runs for two seasons and thirty-five episodes, built from brisk, self-contained misadventures layered over a light serialized thread about her reinvention. The tone is breezy, irreverent and warm, with a sardonic edge that plays the heroine's flaws for laughs while keeping her likable. Set in present-day American suburbia and the city around it, it feels like a bright, cheeky network sitcom with a sincere core. Fans of Pushing Daisies, Ugly Betty and Lipstick Jungle will find similar pleasures in its quirky heroines and second-chance premise.

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