Q&A

There was, and though the two hit their different-sized screens at roughly the same time, there was no actual connection.

There were similarities though. As suggested by the title, the plots involved to some degree the day-to-day drudgery of working at a supermarket.

But most notably, the producers of both had the idea of doing things a little differently.

The TBS sitcom "10 Items or Less" was an attempt to fuse scripted comedy with improvisation, as the scripts for each episode were essentially just half-written, leaving room for the cast to ad-lib. It managed to get to a third season, but was cancelled eight episodes in.

Freeman's low-budget romantic comedy made a few waves when it was made available over the Internet shortly after its theatrical release. It launched ClickStar, a joint effort between Freeman's production company and computer-chip maker Intel to create a legal option for movie downloading. It was a flop though, and the site was offline within two years of its launch.

The film was supposed to be available online on the day of its theatrical release, but the web launch was held back by two weeks, reportedly so the film could contend for Academy Awards.

That proved to be a futile gesture though, as the only award nomination the film got was an Independent Spirit Award nod to its producer, Julie Lynn, who lost out to "Shortbus" producers Howard Gertler and Tim Perell.  

Have a question? E-mail us at questions@tvtabloid.com. Please include your name and town. Personal replies will not be provided.