Inside Schwartz

{{Infobox television

| image =

| caption =

| genre = Sitcom

| creator = Stephen Engel

| developer =

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| composer = Ben Vaughn

| country = United States

| language = English

| num_seasons = 1

| num_episodes = 13 (4 unaired)

| list_episodes =

| executive_producer = Stephen Engel

| producer = John Ziffren

| location = 20th Century Fox Studios
10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California

| cinematography = Peter Smokler

| camera = Multi-camera

| runtime = 30 minutes

| company = {{Plain list|

}}

| network = NBC

| first_aired = {{Start date|2001|9|27}}

| last_aired = {{End date|2002|1|3}}

}}

Inside Schwartz is an American sitcom television series created by Stephen Engel, that aired on NBC from September 27, 2001, until January 3, 2002, starring Breckin Meyer as the title character. The show was produced by 20th Century Fox Television and NBC Studios and first aired on NBC on Thursday Night at 8:30 EST.

Plot

After losing a long-time girlfriend, minor-league sportscaster Adam Schwartz's (Meyer) dating life is illustrated by sports highlights (as presented by Fox Sports Net) in which various pro sports personalities appear. For instance, when Adam's date reveals that she has three children a referee appears and makes the call "Too many players on the field".

Cast

Breckin Meyer as Adam Schwartz
Miriam Shor as Julie Hermann
Bryan Callen as David Cobert
Jennifer Irwin as Emily Cobert
Richard Kline as Gene Schwartz
Dondré T. Whitfield as William Morris (episodes 2–4, 9)
Maggie Lawson as Eve Morris (episodes 7–8; recurring, previously)

=Recurring=

Van Earl Wright as Himself
Kevin Frazier as Himself

Episodes

{{Episode table |background=#F38E10 |overall= |title= |director= |writer= |airdate= |viewers= |country=U.S. |prodcode= |episodes=

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 1

| Title = Pilot

| DirectedBy = Pamela Fryman

| WrittenBy = Stephen Engel

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|9|27}}

| Viewers=22.52{{cite web|url=http://tv.zap2it.com/news/ratings/networks/010930network.html |title=Top 20 Network Primetime Report |work=Zap2it |access-date=June 16, 2023 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011006133609/http://tv.zap2it.com/news/ratings/networks/010930network.html |archive-date=October 6, 2001 }}

| ShortSummary =

| ProdCode = 1AFP79

| LineColor = f38e10

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 2

| Title = Let's Go to the Videotape

| DirectedBy = Pamela Fryman

| WrittenBy = Stephen Engel

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|10|4}}

| Viewers=20.59{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/41488562/the-los-angeles-times/|title=National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 1-7)|date=October 10, 2001|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=June 8, 2023|via=Newspapers.com}}{{free access}}

| ShortSummary =

| ProdCode = 1AFP01

| LineColor = f38e10

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 3

| Title = The Pinch Hitter

| DirectedBy = Gil Junger

| WrittenBy = Gail Lerner

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|10|18}}

| Viewers=15.09{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/41488647/the-los-angeles-times/|title=National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 15-21)|date=October 24, 2001|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=June 8, 2023|via=Newspapers.com}}{{free access}}

| ShortSummary =

| ProdCode = 1AFP05

| LineColor = f38e10

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 4

| Title = Event Night

| DirectedBy = Michael Lembeck

| WrittenBy = Gail Lerner & Bill Kunstler

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|10|25}}

| Viewers=16.56{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/41487558/the-los-angeles-times/|title=National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 22-28)|date=October 31, 2001|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=June 8, 2023|via=Newspapers.com}}{{free access}}

| ShortSummary =

| ProdCode = 1AFP07

| LineColor = f38e10

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 5

| Title = Comic Relief Pitcher

| DirectedBy = Gail Mancuso

| WrittenBy = {{StoryTeleplay|s=Stephen Leff & Jim Patterson|t=Bill Kunstler}}

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|11|29}}

| Viewers=14.26{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/41495018/the-los-angeles-times/|title=National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 26-Dec. 2)|date=December 5, 2001|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=June 8, 2023|via=Newspapers.com}}{{free access}}

| ShortSummary =

| ProdCode = 1AFP09

| LineColor = f38e10

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 6

| Title = Roommates

| DirectedBy = Gail Mancuso

| WrittenBy = {{StoryTeleplay|s=Michael Gannon & Jon Hotchkiss|t=Jack Burditt}}

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|12|06}}

| Viewers=15.22{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/41494878/the-los-angeles-times/|title=National Nielsen Viewership (Dec. 3-9)|date=December 12, 2001|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=June 8, 2023|via=Newspapers.com}}{{free access}}

| ShortSummary =

| ProdCode = 1AFP11

| LineColor = f38e10

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 7

| Title = Play-Action Fake Boyfriend

| DirectedBy = Gail Mancuso

| WrittenBy = {{StoryTeleplay|s=Debora Cahn|t=Gail Lerner}}

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|12|20}}

| Viewers=10.57{{cite news|title=National Nielsen Viewership (Dec. 17-23)|date=December 28, 2001|work=The Los Angeles Times}}

| ShortSummary =

| ProdCode = 1AFP10

| LineColor = f38e10

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 8

| Title = Eve's Date with Schwartz's Destiny

| DirectedBy = Gil Junger

| WrittenBy = Jeff Lowell & Marc Sedaka

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|12|27}}

| Viewers=10.69{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/41462963/the-los-angeles-times/|title=National Nielsen Viewership (Dec. 24-30)|date=January 4, 2002|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=June 25, 2023|via=Newspapers.com}}{{free access}}

| ShortSummary =

| ProdCode = 1AFP12

| LineColor = f38e10

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 9

| Title = Kissing Cousin

| DirectedBy = Gil Junger

| WrittenBy = Stephen Leff & Jim Patterson

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2002|1|03}}

| Viewers=10.51{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/41468235/the-los-angeles-times/|title=National Nielsen Viewership (Dec. 30-Jan. 6)|date=January 9, 2002|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=June 8, 2023|via=Newspapers.com}}{{free access}}

| ShortSummary =

| ProdCode = 1AFP08

| LineColor = f38e10

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 10

| Title = It's All in the Footwork

| DirectedBy = Gil Junger

| WrittenBy = Jim Patterson

| OriginalAirDate = Unaired

| Viewers=

| ShortSummary =

| ProdCode = 1AFP02

| LineColor = f38e10

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 11

| Title = Service, Schwartz?

| DirectedBy = Gail Mancuso

| WrittenBy = Stephen Leff

| OriginalAirDate = Unaired

| Viewers=

| ShortSummary =

| ProdCode = 1AFP03

| LineColor = f38e10

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 12

| Title = Bless Me Father, for I Have Fired You

| DirectedBy = Gil Junger

| WrittenBy = Stephen Engel

| OriginalAirDate = Unaired

| Viewers=

| ShortSummary =

| ProdCode = 1AFP04

| LineColor = f38e10

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 13

| Title = He Ain't Funny, He's My Brother

| DirectedBy = Gail Mancuso

| WrittenBy = Stephen Engel

| OriginalAirDate = Unaired

| Viewers=

| ShortSummary =

| ProdCode = 1AFP06

| LineColor = f38e10

}}

Cancellation

The series followed Friends, which was in its 8th and highest-rated season. Inside Schwartz debuted with 22.5 million viewers. Of the 9 episodes to air, 5 followed new episodes of Friends. But despite having an average household rating of 9.8 and being ranked 16th among all programs in the ratings, Inside Schwartz was cancelled as network executives believed that the valuable time slot could get higher ratings.{{cite book|title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present}}

The time slot was filled with a new series, Leap of Faith, which aired for six episodes, and finally NBC simply aired repeat episodes of Friends which had higher ratings than either Inside Schwartz or Leap of Faith.

Legacy

Prominent television writer and producer Dan Harmon cited the premiere of Inside Schwartz as a watershed moment in the history of television and the end of an era for traditional network programming.{{cite speech |title=XOXO Keynote |first=Dan |last=Harmon |event=XOXO Festival |location= |date=September 2012 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej_aFOnT04g |access-date=March 9, 2022}}

{{Blockquote |text=In September of 2001 everything really changed, and the way we perceive television changed, because of a tragedy called the premiere of NBC's Inside Schwartz. It was at that point that we realized television was broken and could never be fixed. |author=Dan Harmon |source=XOXO Festival Keynote (2012)}}