A retooled version of Julia Louis-Dreyfus's comedy Watching Ellie returns to NBC beginning Tuesday, April 15. It replaces the struggling A.U.S.A.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus' NBC comedy Watching Ellie will be relaunched on April 15, where it will get a six-week run behind Frasier.

Variety reports that since viewers last tuned in to "Ellie" last year, the series has been revamped. The real-time element is out, as is the single-camera format.

By giving "Ellie" a timeslot in April, NBC executives will be able to decide whether to bring the show back for a third season next fall. The series snagged a surprise midseason order last May despite scoring only modest ratings in its initial outing.

Live Studio Audience Will Be 'Watching Ellie' This Time Out

By Mike Duffy
Knight Ridder News Service

The time clock is out on "Watching Ellie."
But the clock is still ticking on whether Julia Louis-Dreyfus' quirky comedy about Los Angeles cabaret singer Ellie Riggs will survive and bloom into the funny, popular success NBC has been hoping for.
And then there's the little matter of "the Seinfeld Curse."
"There is no such thing as 'the Seinfeld Curse.' It's something the media created," says Louis-Dreyfus, who returns for a brief, six-episode second season of a revamped "Watching Ellie" at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday on KSL Channel 5.
"The Seinfeld Curse" is the name given to the chucklehead jinx that has afflicted the supporting players of that beloved classic sitcom. Michael Richards ("The Michael Richards Show") and Jason Alexander ("Bob Patterson") crashed and burned in laugh-track purgatory when they starred in their own flagrantly mediocre sitcoms following "Seinfeld."
"There is the curse of show business," acknowledges Louis-Dreyfus, who spoke with TV critics during a teleconference last week. "It's just really hard when you're going uphill in the entertainment business. Even when you've had success before, it's not easy doing it again. This is a tough business."
When it debuted last season to widely mixed reviews -- some of which were borderline ecstatic and some much less so -- "Watching Ellie" was a relaxed little comedy that followed its own unconventional, easygoing rhythms.
It was filmed with a single camera like a mini-movie.
There was no studio audience, therefore no traditional laugh-track guffawing.
And there was the offbeat real-time format with that digital clock ticking down the time in one corner of the screen.
That's all changed. "Watching Ellie," like "Seinfeld," "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Friends" and hundreds of other sitcoms since the 1950s, is now being filmed in front of a studio audience. So the feel is more familiar.
NBC was especially keen on ditching the little time clock and adding a studio audience.
"Actually, I think the show is just as good and perhaps a little funnier," says Louis-Dreyfus, who said she has no problem with the changes. "I'm delighted to have an audience. I missed an audience last year."
Getting rid of the real-time format and the ticking clock allows Louis-Dreyfus and her husband, Brad Hall, who created and produces the series, to open up the storytelling, she says. But it's filming before a studio audience each Friday evening that will have the most noticeable impact on the comic tone of "Watching Ellie."
"It's just broader, there are aspects of the show that are a little goofier," says Louis-Dreyfus of doing comedy with a studio audience. "The pace and the energy have to come up a little bit."
Despite an overhaul of the show's comic metabolism, Ellie Riggs isn't changing her personality. She's still single, singing and suffering from low self-esteem.
"From a comedic point of view, it's great to be playing a person who's needy, insecure and maybe a little angry," says Louis-Dreyfus. "It lends itself to a lot of humor."

Originally posted by Roto
The only thing that gives me hope for this show is her husband Brad Hall. Brooklyn Bridge was a great show. I think he wrote and/or created Watching Ellie, but I didn't really enjoy it's first go around. I'm glad they made some changes.