Attention: Just because a television show wins an Emmy Award, it does not mean the show is any good. Case in point: The New Adventures of Old Christine.

Now, having won an Emmy for lead actress in a comedy series (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) in 2006, one would assume Old Christine would have some twinge of creativity to bring to the table. One would hope that it would land at least a little off-center of the typical sitcom banality. And even if the rest of the show were terrible, one would think that Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld) would infuse it with some much-needed energy.

Sadly, one would be wrong on all accounts.

The pilot of Old Christine introduces us to the title character, a neurotic single mother, as she wakes up in bed and leaves herself reminders by recording voicemails on her own answering machine. This is supposed to introduce us to the character and make us think, “Oh, that wacky Christine! I wonder what shenanigans she’s going to get herself into this week?” But Louis-Dreyfus looks as tired as the comedy bit, and the dull note the pilot hits is hit over and over again as the series progresses.

We learn that Christine is still great friends with her ex-husband, Richard (Clark Gregg). She brags to everyone that she has the perfect divorce, but is shocked when she discovers that Richard is dating a much younger woman. And surprise! Her name is Christine, too!

Realizing that the creators of the show thought this plot point was hilarious enough to build an entire series around should be warning enough about the stale humor it contains. The situation leads everyone to dub Richard’s girlfriend “New Christine” and our protagonist “Old Christine.” So sad.

From there, the writers seem determined to get Old Christine into as many embarrassing situations as possible. This is a completely wrongheaded move, and undermines any chance the series had at retaining some comic originality. Given the relative absurdity of the main plot point (New/Old Christine), a better move would have been to humanize the characters with more realistic situations. Granted, that would have taken great writers, which are in very short supply among most sitcoms. So, instead we get Christine trying to pick up guys in the grocery store, a blind date who brings his own food to the restaurant and (I just can’t stop giggling!) Brazilian waxes! So silly! Right?