Throng

The New Adventure of Old Christine
Friday, 1 June, 8.00pm

Julia Louis-Dreyfus returns to her Emmy-award-winning role as Christine, a bumbling, divorced mother in The New Adventures of Old Christine.

Loveable divorcee Christine Campbell (Louis-Dreyfus) is the owner of a '30-minute workout' gym, and a portrait of the new American mother, albeit with some unflinchingly candid points of view. Christine gets on with charming ex-husband Richard (Clark Gregg) even better than when they were married, but her life got a lot more complicated when she met Richard's girlfriend: a sunny, young, impossible-to-hate woman also named Christine (Emily Rutherfurd) ... the 'new' Christine.
After eight years playing baby-phobic Elaine on Seinfeld', Louis-Dreyfus, who is the married mother of two boys, leapt at the role of Christine. "It appeals to me to show the imperfections of motherhood and womanhood, warts and all. I like playing somebody who has to apologise to their kid, all the time, for screwing up. That seems really real."

Christine's battles with the smug stay-at-home mothers at her son's school, and her valiant attempts to be gracious despite being replaced by a younger, perkier model struck a chord with both viewers and critics in the first season. Louis-Dreyfus bagged an Emmy for her role as Christine and looks to break the 'Seinfeld Curse' of unsuccessful projects fronted by Seinfeld stars with The New Adventures of Old Christine.

The second season of the show has an added attraction - Blair Underwood, who plays the new teacher at her son Ritchie's school. "The role was written as an unbelievably handsome fourth grade teacher. And of course, we anted an actor who was capable," she laughs. "Blair Underwood was at the top of the list. He's obviously gorgeous and able to hand the comedy, so he really fit the bill."

There are other guest stars on the horizon: "We've got some really fun guest stars. Jane Lynch (Best in Show) is coming back again as Coach Hammond. And Sandra Bernhard (Roseanne) [in an episode where] we're trying to get people to sign our petition outside of a Whole Foods-type market. It was really fun ... she was outrageous."

In the season premiere, it's the first day of fourth grade for Christine's son Ritchie. When Christine and the other moms meet the class' disarmingly handsome new teacher, Daniel Harris (Underwood), they decide to schedule a few parent-teacher conferences immediately. Meanwhile, no longer dating 'New Christine', Richard stays with Christine while he builds a new laundry room for her. But problems arise when Ritchie misinterprets the comfortable arrangement and believes his parents have gotten back together. Christine scrambles to find a way to explain that she could never reunite with Richard - or could she?