Take Seinfeld, add the visual style of 24, and you get Watching Ellie. That damn clock in the bottom corner of the screen is pointless-- it just makes me nervous as Ellie bumbles her was through her day. scratch that-- through her 22 minutes. The writing isn't so bad, and the characters are all good (with the exception of the blonde english boyfriend)... I especially liked her building super, played by Peter Stormare (one of the nihilists from the Big Lebowski).

So, what's with the real-time stuff? Are we so neurotic a culture that we find this kind of thing interesting? One of the reasons i like Frasier so much, is because of the way they transition between scenes. It gives a second to catch our breath, muse over whatever clever title they give the next scene, and then we see it unfold. Sitcoms are stale, i realize this-- but Watching Ellie isn't more than an experiment. I doubt it will catch on without some rethinking.