Rise of a snacks queen

By FRANCES GRANT

Claudia, the lead character in new American sitcom Less Than Perfect, has sweets on her desk where her paperclips should be and guzzles a bucket of pop to help her get through those tougher assignments.

The perky Claudia may be only a temp but she has a masters degree in comparative snack-machine studies and a host of fat person jokes. When warned that jealous workmates will feed her to the wolves, she replies, "Do you think that will make me thinner? Because I'll try anything except diet and exercise".

Claudia's fuller figure has been hailed in the United States as a breakthrough, in that casting the rounded, red-haired Sara Rue in the lead popular culture is acknowledging at last that not all women are blonde stick insects and not all larger women actors have to be relegated to the wisecracking second fiddle.

The creator and executive producer of the show, Terri Minsky, has said that the inspiration for Less Than Perfect was her own experience crawling up the career ladder in a newsroom and, in true Jane Eyre style, she wanted to create an "ordinary" female heroine.

A respectable dress size was part of the deal. "A size-12 [size 14] actress was non-negotiable. Uncool, less-than beautiful heroines exist on television but they are always played by beautiful actresses, and that never made any sense to me," Minsky has said.

The show starts with Claudia "Claude" Casey, a temp with a wardrobe of frocks, cardies and sensible shoes, landing a plum job as assistant to a glamorous news anchor on the coveted Floor 22. Apparently she won over the boss with her home-baked brownies.

Claude is caught between the excitement of her new job and remaining loyal to the mates she left behind. She also has to contend with her new, jealous co-workers who regard the desk she occupies as a prime piece of "career real estate".

Rue, who played the admirable Carmen Ferrera in under-rated teen satire Popular, has found the attention paid to bodysize issues rather tiresome. An actress since childhood with an extensive list of credits, the 24-year-old Rue says the important thing was that she was the right personality for the role.

Still, much of the humour seems to be centred on fat jokes, such as cracks about actress Renee Zellweger putting on the pounds "just to look like a normal person" for her Bridget Jones role.

But apart from striking a blow for the fuller figure, as entertainment Less Than Perfect could be in danger of living up to its name. It has been described as a cross between Sex and the City and Just Shoot Me but, judging by the first couple of episodes, that seems to be overstating the laughs and the raunch factor.

Once Claude has settled into her new desk, the show seems to become a standard issue media workplace sitcom, harking back to the days of Mary Tyler Moore. One of Claude's workmates is played by Andy Dick, who one critic noted appears to be exactly the same character as he was in NewsRadio.

The cast also includes Andrea Parker (who viewers may recognise as the villainous Miss Parker from The Pretender) as one of Claude's thin and scornful newsroom colleagues Lydia, and the vacuous and egotistical boss is played by Eric Roberts, brother of Julia.

The most interesting thing about the show is whether having an attractive, healthy looking size 14 - yes, that could hardly be called fat - making self-deprecating jokes about being a plain Jane could challenge the strictures of female body image of pop culture in any way.