# Inside Schwartz

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 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

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 1 | "Pilot" | Pamela Fryman | Stephen Engel | September 27, 2001 (2001-09-27) | 1AFP79 | 22.52 |
| 2 | "Let's Go to the Videotape" | Pamela Fryman | Stephen Engel | October 4, 2001 (2001-10-04) | 1AFP01 | 20.59 |
| 3 | "The Pinch Hitter" | Gil Junger | Gail Lerner | October 18, 2001 (2001-10-18) | 1AFP05 | 15.09 |
| 4 | "Event Night" | Michael Lembeck | Gail Lerner & Bill Kunstler | October 25, 2001 (2001-10-25) | 1AFP07 | 16.56 |
| 5 | "Comic Relief Pitcher" | Gail Mancuso | Story by : Stephen Leff & Jim Patterson Teleplay by : Bill Kunstler | November 29, 2001 (2001-11-29) | 1AFP09 | 14.26 |
| 6 | "Roommates" | Gail Mancuso | Story by : Michael Gannon & Jon Hotchkiss Teleplay by : Jack Burditt | December 6, 2001 (2001-12-06) | 1AFP11 | 15.22 |
| 7 | "Play-Action Fake Boyfriend" | Gail Mancuso | Story by : Debora Cahn Teleplay by : Gail Lerner | December 20, 2001 (2001-12-20) | 1AFP10 | 10.57 |
| 8 | "Eve's Date with Schwartz's Destiny" | Gil Junger | Jeff Lowell & Marc Sedaka | December 27, 2001 (2001-12-27) | 1AFP12 | 10.69 |
| 9 | "Kissing Cousin" | Gil Junger | Stephen Leff & Jim Patterson | January 3, 2002 (2002-01-03) | 1AFP08 | 10.51 |
| 10 | "It's All in the Footwork" | Gil Junger | Jim Patterson | Unaired | 1AFP02 | N/A |
| 11 | "Service, Schwartz?" | Gail Mancuso | Stephen Leff | Unaired | 1AFP03 | N/A |
| 12 | "Bless Me Father, for I Have Fired You" | Gil Junger | Stephen Engel | Unaired | 1AFP04 | N/A |
| 13 | "He Ain't Funny, He's My Brother" | Gail Mancuso | Stephen Engel | Unaired | 1AFP06 | N/A |

## 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.
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.
   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.