It never fails to surprise me when I find out about a TV show from the 2000s that I somehow never knew existed, but when I find out that it debuted between 2004-2007, I suddenly get a little less surprised. That’s a very important window: it starts when my wife and found out we were going to becoming parents, and it ends when I became a member of the Television Critics Association. If it premiered during that period of time, then all bets are off unless it eventually came out as a full-season set, in which case I almost certainly reviewed it.
From what I can tell, however, Lovespring International - which debuted on June 5, 2006, ran for 13 episodes, and was canceled before the end of the year - did not make it to home video. Truthfully, it’s not entirely surprising: consider that it aired on a network where you wouldn’t normally expect to see an improvised sitcom (Lifetime) and aired at a time which is not particularly conducive to building an audience (Monday nights at 11 p.m. ). I don’t even know what sort of numbers it was pulling in, but I feel comfortable in saying that they were not of the variety cause studio execs to jump up and say, “If we put this thing on DVD, it’s gonna sell like hotcakes!”
So, yeah, that’s why I wasn’t aware of the show in 2006…and yet I look at the cast photo above in 2021, and I can’t help but find myself wondering, “With all of those people in it, how can I possibly have never heard of it until today?!”
The premise of the show: an elite Beverly Hills dating service - one which is actually located in Tarzana, California - tries to stay afloat while battling the competition, vowing to help bring couples together, no matter what it takes…or something along those lines, anyway.
Look at this cast list!
· Mystro Clark as Alex Odom
· Jennifer Elise Cox as Tiffany Riley Clarke
· Jane Lynch as Victoria Ratchford
· Wendi McLendon-Covey as Lydia Mayhew
· Sam Pancake as Burke Kristopher
· Jack Plotnick as Steve Morris
Of course, there’s another guy in that photo who we didn’t mention, the one who’s smack dab in the center: that’s Eric McCormack of Will & Grace fame, and he’s there because he was the show’s executive producer. Unsurprisingly, he also popped up in one of the episodes, and he was far from the only recognizable guest stars: others who rear their heads at one point or another include Dave Foley, Gary Anthony Williams, Aimee Garcia, Kerri Kenney, Sean Hayes, Mindy Sterling, Kyle Bornheimer, Camryn Manheim, Tim Meadows, Josh Meyers, Michael Hitchcock, and Alanis freakin’ Morissette.
So again I ask: “With all of those people in it, how can I possibly have never heard of it until today?!”
Yeah, that’s a question I still can’t answer. But belated or not, at least I’ve managed to remedy that situation, and it seems like the least I can do is introduce some other folks to Lovespring International, too, since I’ve also just discovered that it’s streaming in its entirety on Tubi.
I didn’t LOVE this show, but I liked it a whole lot. Jennifer Elise Cox deserves to be a much bigger cult comedy star than she currently is.