Samantha Who?

This comedy series, which aired on ABC from 2007-09, stars Christina Applegate as Samantha, a once unpleasant woman who, after being in a coma from a car accident, starts life anew with a bubbly personality.

Not related to that other Who series... or is it?


 * All Guys Want Bad Girls: Despite or because of her unpleasant personality before the accident, Samantha had a boyfriend on whom she cheated with at least two other men. Both considered leaving their wives for her.
 * Amoral Attorney / Bunny Ears Lawyer: Despite (or perhaps because of) her cruel streak and party girl personality, Bad Sam was a successful attorney; Samantha's friend Andrea is also supposed to be a successful lawyer but comes across as more of a Brainless Beauty.
 * Amnesiac Dissonance
 * Amnesiac Liar
 * Analogy Backfire: In one episode, Samantha crashes her father's car and pressures Dena into helping her to push it into a lake. When Dena asserts that Samantha was acting like Bad Sam, Samantha tries to counter that she only looked like Bad Sam but is different and starts comparing herself to the difference between a snake and its shed skin. Then it hits her that the shed skin (what she is comparing her current personality to) is an empty shell.
 * The Atoner: Sort of, Samantha is and tries to be a better person than previously, but insists she isn't responsible for the actions of Bad Sam.
 * Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Dena has a habit of talking like this.
 * Butt Monkey: Samantha's friend Dena.
 * Comedic Sociopathy: A lot of Sam's cruel actions before amnesia are alluded to and come across as darkly humorous.
 * Creator Provincialism: Suprisingly averted. Series co-creator Cecila Ahern is Irish and everything else she has written (novels and short stories) are set in Ireland or at least of a strong Irish connection but without being aware beforehand you'd never guess the show creator is anything other than American.
 * Genki Girl/Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Samantha's personality after the car accident- because of her amnesia, she approaches the world filled with wonder.
 * Genre Savvy: Generally, when Samantha tries to explain her different personality due to amnesia, her listeners are skeptical, believing that this kind of amnesia was made up by Hollywood. Sam herself is aware of this, and once she find out that "Bad Sam" used the Amnesia Excuse before and Good Sam reaction was something like "And you believed it?"
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: In one episode, Samantha is expecting to have sex for the first time since amnesia and is advised by Dena that her "carpet should match the drapes" which Dena thinks means that her bra and panties should match. When Samantha echoes the phrase to Todd, he tells her, "I don't think that phrase means what you think it means."
 * Good Costume Switch: In flashbacks, it's noticeable that Bad Sam wore a lot of black leather and was scuzzy looking, while the current Samantha dresses in bright colors.
 * Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Andrea and pre-amnesia Sam were hard-drinking party girls. Andrea is almost certainly an alcoholic and amusingly, amnesiac Sam thought she was one as well, finding out she attended AA meetings. A few episodes later, it's revealed that this was only because of a court order and thus she can drink safely without worrying about alcoholism
 * Identity Amnesia: The premise of the show
 * In the Blood: In one episode, Samantha's mother asserts that an evil streak runs in the family but get diluted with every generation
 * Jekyll and Hyde: Samantha refers to her previous personality as "Bad Sam".
 * Magical Negro: Samantha's doorman, Frank, plays with this. True, she comes to him for advice and looks upon him as something of a conscience, but he is a Deadpan Snarker. Unlike many such characters, he frequently references having a life outside helping Samantha and tends to rebuff her attempts to claim him as a friend.
 * Remonstrating with a Gun: "The Stalker" and it's about Samantha's attempt to apologize to someone to whom she stalked in her "evil" former personality, but continually makes the situation worse. During the same episode, she tries to bond with her father by going hunting with him. Thus, she ends up explaining to the man she stalked and the crowd that she is not crazy, while pointing a rifle at him and them. Hilarity Ensues.
 * Rich Bitch: Andrea and, to a lesser extent, Samantha's mother.
 * Romantic False Lead: Chloe, the current girlfriend of Samantha's ex-boyfriend, Todd.
 * Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Samantha's mother and father.