The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman (2006–2007) User Reviews

Funny

[thecarve · 8/10 · 13 August 2006]

A bright spot on TV, only on cable it seems. Minor accomplishments, takes a good concept and weaves a funny line of thoughts, comments and seriously well written dialog into a package that minus the blue language would be smarter than 90% of the sitcoms today, they want to be this show but they just do no know how. Detail? Read on.

Funny and well written show. The acting chops are there and the situations are spot on. Give a whirl and you will not be disappointed.

It is cool to find little gems like his on IFC it restores my faith that people can still be funny without being over the top.

She strikes me as a great all around talent and has done a slew of bit parts the Will and Grace episodes were fall down funny. Nicholle Tom as her best friend is just as funny, whoever put those two together, hey, great call.

The awful terrible life of the un- and under-employed Hollywood screenwriter

[Keylimepie · 7/10 · 18 August 2006]

This is a very smart comedy made by - and for - Hollywood insiders. It has a bit of Entourage mixed with The Player about it. It's funny, but I don't know if it translates to a very wide audience. The main character, Jackie, is a screenwriter whose life is basically a huge disappointment to her, both in her career and her love life. The scripts, many written by Laura Kightlinger who also plays Jackie, have that edgy bitterness which is very true to the "biz", that some people may find funny (I do) and others just depressing. Jackie may also come across as an awful narcissist, but then Hollywood only works because of all the narcissists operating in concert to try and make movies and occasionally succeeding. Certain aspects of the show are just dead on. Jackie is in a constant struggle to define herself both professionally and spiritually (though she would never cop to that in a million years). Kightlinger is terrific. She has a Geena Davis thing going on which she spins her own way. I recommend this to all angry, desperate, bitter, lonely people. For us it's great. If you feel suicidal once or twice a week, try it and see if you like it.

Keep minors away from this series, for it has too much sex, bad language and drugs, but there truly are some sharp observations and abundant wit

[inkblot11 · 7/10 · 14 September 2010]

Jackie (Laura Kightlinger) is a journalist for a very minor Hollywood blab magazine. Naturally, the job does not pay very well, so she has a roommate, Tara (Nicholle Tom) to help make ends meet. In addition, Jackie has no car and Tara carts her around, to work and play. Tara, herself, has a very unimportant job with a film studio so its these two young ladies "against the world". They don't always get along, for sometimes Tara does resent her role as a chauffeur and they pick fights over minor things. Basically, Jackie is on the lookout for a nice romance, too, but usually ends up being pursued by losers. On the job, things can also get sticky, for Jackie's ideas are rejected. For example, a chance encounter with Sally Kellerman provided material for a retrospective look at the original "Hot Lips". However, her editor rejected the idea. Their readers, she said, only want the latest information on the current stars. In a couple of episodes, Tara joined an almost cult-type group and Jackie had to rescue her. Another time, the two went to a Hollywood party but there was such a prevalence of drugs, Jackie decided to walk home while Tara partied. Will these ladies ever get a break, big or little, in LaLa land? I never heard of this series and have no idea what network presented it but I found a disc of the first season in the markdown bin. Parents of minors, don't let your teenage girls have a look, for there is horrid language and a lot of narcotics. But, overall, Jackie has a strong wit and a sharp commentary for the world around her. As Jacks, Kightlinger is quite good, and very lovely. I knew I had seen her before and finally figured out that she had a strong cameo at the beginning of the film Must Love Dogs. Tom, who starred as Maggie in "The Nanny" series and had other roles as a child actor, is now a gorgeous, blonde adult. Folks expecting sweet Maggie may be shocked at Tom's Tara, who wears skimpy outfits and spout bad words easily. And, while Jackie is intelligent, Tara has less gray matter upstairs, that's certain. The rest of the cast, unknown actors, do a very good job, too. The scenery in California is nice and the costumes very nifty. But, by far, it is the script that is compelling here, for the series really does have an authentic feel and plenty of humor in its behind-the-scenes look at cutthroat Hollywood life. If you enjoy biting wit, you would do well to look this series up, especially if you have cinematic aspirations. It tells it like it is in the banana-peel-world of Tinseltown.

Most Creative Script and Charismatic Characters on TV Today

[gary_betz · 10/10 · 10 September 2007]

Very creative script!!! I was hesitant to watch this show for the longest time, but am so glad I did. Jackie Woodman was the women I knew from the 70's back in Chicago when Chicago was in its inception of theatre brilliance but these creative albeit caustic women never emerged from its nadir. It is so very heartening that their spirit has survived in Jackie Woodman. Why the entire world has not embraced Laura Kightlinger, I haven't a clue. What a brilliant woman. And how very delightful is Nicholle Tom in this show!!! She has accomplished what few child television stars have been able to accomplish and that of becoming an accomplished mature actor. This show is very very refreshing. Watch a few episodes and you'll be enchanted as well.

Smart, and Funny and Stupid.

[alphawave2012 · 8/10 · 20 February 2008]

From the great mind of Laura K. and D. Punch, comes a show about losers who win at living life. Jackie tries so hard in a town of idiots to push her screenplays of intelligencia. While Tara, her best friend, is succeeding without really trying and sleeping on the next opportunity.

Dark-sarcastic, and very smart, but at the same time it's sprinkled with stupidity, and happiness. Like life it has it's ups and downs. But has you laughing all the way through. It has you thinking on the obscure references and bitch slaps you with present pop culture.

While IFC (which runs the series exclusively) has only shown Season One, and only three episodes of Season 2; what has come out, is well worth watching again and again.

Great show, quirky and interesting

[nonayubiz · 10/10 · 30 May 2018]

Too bad it didn't get more time to develop. One of those shows I so wish more people, esp women, knew about. Original and savvy and dark and hilarious. What more do you want?

Minor Accomplishments, huge series!

[roastbeefsucks · 16 September 2006]

I believe that this is one of the best shows on television. IFC has created a real winner. Original and funnier than Entourage, I think that this show is great. I understand why she was not nominated for an Emmy award because it is only the first season, and because that old fart Julia Louis-Dreyfus. When the Golden Globes premiere, I hope this show she and this show are nominated. This show also has a really great ensemble cast, so they might not do so bad at the Screen Actors Guild awards. So . . . this is a good show, I hope it never gets canceled, and I hope that Laura Kightlinger wins something. Minor Accomplishments, Huge series!

Fresh!

[LivingDog · 10/10 · 15 November 2006]

Laura Kightlinger is a dream come true. Smart sharp witted talent that cuts through all the baloney of making it in Hollywood. There is one line I tell people about (this is the spoiler - but it's only one line): An utterly superficial red-head sleeps her way to the top of the pile. She writes a "How-to-" book of little if no worth. At a class reunion Laura's character "Jackie Woodman" and her best friend from film college run into this feline succubus who exchange claw marks. Later a bunch of of them are talking and as it turns out one of them has made some real success - he collects projects for his studio.

Naturally the red-haired thing goes all wet and starts purring all over him - fat, doofy, unattractive Berringer. So out comes Laura's (Jackie's) six-shooter and says: "Oh comon', when we were in college you wouldn't have noticed Berringer if he popped out of your birth canal!" (for which I am still laughing)

See it - you will NOT be disappointed. 10+/10

-LD

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my faith: http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/jbc33/

summary

[pancake_repairman · 3/10 · 2 March 2007]

She has a problem with her plumbing and then has a conversation with her mother about nothing. That's 2 minutes of content. It's like gritty realism about stuff that isn't gritty or in any way remotely interesting. It's like the possibility that some things that aren't generally depicted in fiction are left alone because there is nothing interesting about them just wasn't considered. Cues are taken from all the cable dramadies, and when you combine that with a distinct lack of a creative imagination or any unique personal experiences in life to draw inspiration from, this is what you get. I guess the idea is that you're supposed to still be so fascinated with the mechanics behind the media entertainment industry, in spite of how saturated TV has been with that topic in the last few years, that it can be taken to an even more tediously personal-detail-filled level and remain interesting. Laura's voice sets her demeanor at a permanent state of exasperation which becomes grating fast. This lack of emotional range is the nail in the coffin.