My Big Fat Greek Life is a short-lived situation comedy series that ran on CBS in 2003. The series was based on the 2002 box-office hit movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding and was produced by HBO Television and Tom Hanks' Playtone Productions for Sony Pictures Television. In addition to being the series star, Nia Vardalos oversaw the show as one of the co-executive producers, along with Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson (who made a guest appearance in one episode as Nia's cousin). All seven episodes of this program are available on DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. A situation comedy, usually referred to as a sitcom, is a genre of comedy programs which originated in radio. ... CBS is one of the largest radio and television networks in the United States. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a 2002 romantic comedy film written by and starring Nia Vardalos and directed by Joel Zwick. ... Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American film actor, Emmy-winning director, voice-over artist and movie producer. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Antonia Eugenia Vardalos, better known as Nia Vardalos (born September 24, 1962 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada), is a Canadian actress, screenwriter and producer. ... Rita Wilson (born October 26, 1956)[1] is an American actress and producer. ... Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video, DVD, and UMD distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. ...

Premise

The series, which is set in Chicago, follows the main character from the film, Nia Portokalos, as she tries to deal with both her family and her new husband, Thomas Miller, an English teacher who still doesn't seem to fit in with her family's Greek traditions. Despite the help and interference from family and her husband, Nia tries her best to stay grounded in various situations. Flag Seal Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland and northern Illinois Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 606. ...

In addition to her husband, the family members in her "Life" include her parents Maria (her mother) and Gus (her father), who are the owners of the Greek restaurant where Nia works, her brother Nick, who is not very bright and has a little bit of a love/hate feeling for Thomas, her wise Aunt Voula and her gossipy cousin Nikki.

Comparisions to the film version

In the movie version, Vardalos's character is named Toula, but was changed to Nia for the series. In addition Toula's Husband's name was changed from Ian to Thomas. They also had a daughter in the film but was never included in the series. Also absent from the series was the travel agency Toula worked in the film; in the series she still worked at her family's restaurant, like she did in the film's early scenes.

Production notes

• John Corbett was the only cast member from the film who couldn't make the transition from film to TV because of a deal he made to star in the FX series Lucky. He was scheduled to make an appearance on My Big Fat Greek Life, but it was cancelled before it could happen. Unfortunately, Corbett's Lucky was unlucky as well; FX cancelled it after 13 episodes. Had it continued, Vardalos would have made a guest appearance on that show.
• Originally, Vardalos pitched the idea of turning My Big Fat Greek Wedding into a series for TV but it was turned down. It wasn't until the film's success that CBS gave her the green light to bring it to TV.
• In the movie, Nia Portokolos was named Toula and Thomas Miller was named Ian with the same last names respectively

FX (shorter for Fox Extended Networks) is the name of a number of related subscription TV channels owned by News Corporations Fox Entertainment Group. ... My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a 2002 romantic comedy film written by and starring Nia Vardalos and directed by Joel Zwick. ... CBS is one of the largest radio and television networks in the United States. ...

Cast

• Nia Vardalos — Nia Portokalos
• Steven Eckholdt — Thomas Miller
• Lainie Kazan — Maria Portokalos
• Louis Mandylor — Nick Portokalos
• Michael Constantine — Gus Portokalos
• Andrea Martin — Aunt Voula
• Gia Carides — Nikki

Antonia Eugenia Vardalos, better known as Nia Vardalos (born September 24, 1962 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada), is a Canadian actress, screenwriter and producer. ... Steven Eckholdt (6 September 1961 Los Angeles, California) is an American actor. ... Lainie Kazan (born Lainie Levine on May 15, 1940 in New York City) is an American actress and singer. ... Louis Mandylor is a Greek Australian film and television actor. ... Michael Constantine (Born 22 May 1927) is a Greek American actor. ... Andrea Martin (born January 15, 1947 in Portland, Maine) is an American actress and comediennne of Armenian descent. ... Gia Carides (born June 7, 1964 in Sydney, Australia) is a Greek-Australian actress. ...

External links

• My Big Fat Greek Life at the Internet Movie Database
• My Big Fat Greek Life at TV.com