Something strange has happened; TV Land has an original show. This is odd because TV Land is a television station that serves the purpose of airing reruns of classic television. What makes this sitcom appropriate for a channel like TV Land is its middle-aged female target audience. The entire show caters to this group and this group alone, but as someone who doesn’t fit into that group, it does so in a way that doesn’t completely ostracize other viewers from cracking the occasional smile.

The show follows Melanie (Valerie Bertinelli) and her two friends Joy (Jane Leeves) and Victoria (Wendie Malick). The trio was on a plane from LA to Paris when they had to make an emergency landing in Cleveland. Once they get passed their initial distain for the city so different from their native Los Angeles, they begin to grow fond of Cleveland and the way its locals treat them. Melanie is so taken by the city that she decides to move there and live with Elka (Betty White), the sassy old caretaker of the house Melanie lives in.

For anyone not paying much attention, all four stars of this show are veteran sitcom actresses. Most notably White, who has had a recent surge of popularity; Bertinelli was on shows like One Day at a Time and Touched by an Angel, Leeves played Daphne on the hit show Fraiser, and Malick played Nina Van Horn on Just Shoot Me and guest stared on numerous shows. This, if anything, is what legitimizes this shows place on TV Land. It is an ensemble cast of actresses who are as past their prime as the characters they play, and its audience will not only recognize them but believe that they are who they’re portraying in the show.

To further the argument of the direct marketing of this show to middle-aged women is the entire list of special features. Aside from the original pilot episode, the features consist of How’d We Get so Hot: Wardrobe on the Set, and We Love Our Age! There are some others that add to the show, like Victoria’s Full Length Japanese ‘Lady Pants’ Commercial, but it mostly centers on the things that its focus demographic would be interested in.

Hot in Cleveland isn’t exactly my speed, but I would be lying if I said that it was a chore to watch. If I were part of the audience this show reaches out to it would be one of my top shows on TV. The show has an undeniable wit and charm that will carry it far amongst those who are interested in a show about middle-aged women and their exploits outside of shows like Sex and the City. This one is much less serious than its HBO equivalent, and adds less to television as a whole; it’s more of a