(premieres 9/11)
What's it about?
These days, families come in all forms - single dads, double moms, sperm donors, egg donors, one-night-stand donors... It's 2012 and anything goes. Bryan and David are a Los Angeles couple, and they have it all. Well, almost. With successful careers and a committed, loving partnership, there is one thing that this couple is missing: a baby. And just when they think the stars will never align, enter Goldie, an extraordinary young woman witha checkered past. A Midwestern waitress and single mother looking to escape her dead-end life and small-minded grandmother, Goldie decides to change everything and move to L.A. with her precocious eight-year-old daughter. Desperate and broke - but also fertile - Goldie quickly becomes the guys' surrogate and quite possibly the girl of their dreams.
(from NBC.com)
You should watch if...
• you're an Ellen Barkin fan.
• you're a Ryan Murphy fan.
• you don't live in Utah (because you can't watch it there...sorry guys!).
So, how was it?
THE NEW NORMAL is one of those shows that gets a lot of flak from people who haven't even seen it before it even premieres. Some people are offended by the very idea of a sitcom starring two gay men trying to start a family. It has even been banned from one network in Utah. Even those who may not be morally offended by it seem offended by the fact that it seems like a rehash of one-third of MODERN FAMILY. To the former group of people, I would say don't bother watching -- it's obviously not the show for you. To the latter group I would say, wait until the show premieres and then tell me what you think.
I found that THE NEW NORMAL bears little in common with MODERN FAMILY other than the fact that it's a comedy and there are two gay characters on it and they want to have a kid. But in execution and tone, the shows are remarkably different. MODERN FAMILY has a laid-back, faux-documentary feel to it. THE NEW NORMAL, on the other hand, borrows the fast, quirky tone of one of creator Ryan Murphy's other shows -- a little thing you might have heard of called GLEE. (GLEE and NEW NORMAL even share a supporting player: Nene Leakes as swim coach Roz Washington on the former and as personal assistant Rocky on the latter.)
Much like the tonally-schizophrenic GLEE, swinging wildly between over-the-top farce to weepy after-school-special, the pilot of THE NEW NORMAL varies wildly between caustic parody and teary-eyed sincerity. Some viewers may feel turned off by this unevenness, but it is a style familiar to fans of not only GLEE, but of Ryan Murphy's other creations, like NIP/TUCK and AMERICAN HORROR STORY. In fact, life is rarely just funny or just dramatic, so I find this combination honest, even when it's mentally exhausting.
On the more precious side of the scale, we have our leading lady, Goldie (portrayed by newcomer Georgia King). Yes, her name is actually Goldie. The first time someone called her this, I thought it was a nickname. But nope, her name is Goldie. She's so innocent and naive (and from Ohio!) that she wears what appears to be a combination of an apron and lederhosen. On the opposite side of the scale is her grandmother, Jane (played by the redoubtable Ellen Barkin), who is so ignorant and bigoted that as soon as she is in a room with both a gay person and a black person, she nearly has a hysterical panic attack. Even the gay couple at the center of the show occupy opposite ends of a stereotypical spectrum: Bryan (played by Andrew Rannells of BOOK OF MORMON fame), is the flamboyant, shopping-obsessed partner, while David (Justin Bartha of THE HANGOVER), is the butch, spots-loving partner. These depictions are far from revolutionary, although the actors both deliver solid performances. What is revolutionary, however, is the ease with which these two men relate on primetime network television. The main gay couple on Ryan Murphy's other comedy, GLEE (Blaine and Kurt), took ten whole episodes to lock lips for the first time, and have kissed with alarming rarity since. Bryan and David, on the other hand, are seen kissing, cuddling, and generally doing things that no one would think twice about a heterosexual couple doing, which I must give NBC props for.
(There's also a precocious young girl in the supporting cast dispensing beyond-her-years wisdom, much like Maddie on FOX's BEN AND KATE, with the one and only difference being that on this show she's eight, as opposed to five.)
There's a lot to love and a lot to be skeptical about with this show. I love the idea of two gay men being front-and-center on a network comedy; I love the caustic wit of Ellen Barkin; I love the complicated relationships between a couple and a surrogate that haven't often been explored on television. I'm skeptical about the stereotypical nature of most of the characters; I'm skeptical about the longevity of the plot; I'm skeptical about Ryan Murphy's ability to juggle not one, not two, but THREE major shows at the same time. The pilot shows plenty of promise, and I am simultaneously optimistic for its success and trepidatious about its potential decline.
And the verdict is:
*** Solid. I'm interested and will definitely keep watching for the foreseeable future.
For all of its imperfections, I'm still very interested in THE NEW NORMAL and remain hopeful that the show will grow from its pilot, rather than deteriorate. It's not my favorite new comedy of the season (that's still THE MINDY PROJECT), but I'm interested to see what Ryan Murphy has in store for these characters, and I fervently hope they outgrow the boxes of the stereotypes they arrived in.
What did you think, Fellow Addicts? Were you drawn in by the unique plot? Or turned off by the formulaic characters? Vote in the poll below and then hit the comments!
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