I thought it was generally OK, except for Ellen Barkin’s ‘Nana’ character.
I guess she is supposed to be an Archie Bunker character - but where you could see that Archie was generally a decent person with some (even for the time) out of date values, Nana is simply vile. You knew that Archie loved Edith and Gloria (and because of Gloria put up with Mike) - but there is no indication that I can see that Nana has any affection for either her granddaughter or great-granddaughter.
She’d work as an evil character in a drama, but here she just seems to be some an extreme caricature that cool liberals (I’m liberal but far from cool) are supposed to point and laugh at.
Was on the computer while it played in the other room. In that audio-only form it was annoying enough that I actually went and changed the channel after about 10 minutes.
The promos I’ve seen make it look like a bad “Modern Family” ripoff, but without the humor or affection. One minute at a time was annoying enough for me. Glad to hear I’m not missing much.
Hated it. Basically a two-dimensional gay-person minstrel show, with humour on the level of Two and a Half Men. Is that who they’re courting as viewers? I don’t know if those sorts of people will sit through 19 minutes of gay person plot to enjoy their three minutes of tragically unfunny homophobic jokes.
NBC, why can’t you get it together? I want to cheer for the channel that airs Parks and Rec and Community, but so much of your programming is complete garbage.
I thought the kid pretending to be Little Edie was cute for a while, but it went on too long. And anybody who thinks Cam on “Modern Family” is a walking stereotype should have a look at that one guy on this show (don’t remember any of the characters’ names).
That’s my impression also. But I’m not sure why :rolleyes: - if he was the wife instead of the husband of a successful OB/Gyn who didn’t work, would you have had the same reaction?
Although I admit I can’t think of current program where there is a spouse without paid work who isn’t taking care of kids. The last one I can think of is Peg Bundy. I know that in *theory *she was watching the kids, but . . .
Hm, I have the pilot DVRd, but now I am not so sure I want to even bother watching it. This sucks, I want to support an ‘alternate lifestyle’ program so more can be shown on TV, but if it sucks that badly I don’t want to support it from an artistic standpoint
I don’t want to overthink a crappy sitcom but… in my view, supporting this drivel, a show with horrible and hurtful stereotypes, and nasty cruel jokes hidden behind “well, it’s not us saying it! that’s what homophobes say!”, isn’t showing support for an ‘alternative lifestyle’ show, at all. It’s saying that gay people have specific characteristics, and roles to play in life. Like once upon a time, when TV stations prided themselves on ‘diversity’ by having black people on their shows… but all the black characters were bus drivers, or janitors, or plumbers, who’d only show up when there was a Black People problem to solve.
You know who’s an awesome gay character on TV? Max, from Happy Endings. Because he’s a main character who happens to be gay, not The Gay Character. His dates and romantic problems and personal habits aren’t treated any differently than any other characters. That’s where we should be heading.
Missed the first ep and watched the 2nd last night. I thought it was trying to be funny by being witty, but it just wasn’t that funny. And maybe I’m old, but some of the lines were delivered way too fast to make them out. I thought the little girl did a good job with the Grey Gardens thing.
Some of Ellen Barkin’s lines made me question the NBC Standards & Practices department: “candy packing fudge factory”? Really?
Its trying to hard to be too many thngs - not funny enough to be a comedy - not serious enough to be a drama.
The nana is just attrocious - when Archie was called out as a bigot, it fit in and was easy to see - she’s trying way to hard to be the ‘obvious bigot we should all learn not to be’ - and its distracting.
I’ll give it one, maybe two more episodes to see if they can find a better groove - but otherwsise its gone.
Only reason I kept watching the episode was because the kid was pretending to be from Grey Gardens. (That is an amazing documentary…and movie with Drew Barrymore).
But who is the character played by that Real housewive of Atlanta (Nene??) supposed to be? I can’t figure it out…and really was hoping for better from Ellen Barkin.
I watched the last 20 minutes of it and I thought it had a few good lines. The little girl is cute and smart and I thought the Oby-Gyn character was well done. His boyfriend seemed way way over the top as if all shows featuring two gay guys need one “straight” man and one over the top goofy one (see modern family and Will and Grace). Ellen Barkin’s character was way too out there as well, imo, so if this show would succeed it would be nice to smooth out those rough edges with those two characters.
Who knows, maybe it will become the next Parks and Rec, but I don’t think I’m going to make it appoitment TV if the first ep is an indication of how the show is going to go.
She acts like she is the personal assistant to the shopping gay - which implies that he either has a job which will be revealed in later episodes (if there are later episodes), or, I guess, has money from somewhere else.
Independently wealthy makes a certain amount of sense - while I’m sure an Ob/Gyn in LA makes a lot of money (and lifestyles in sit-com land are almost always better than you’d think could be supported by evidence) - they’ve got a huge house with a large guest house, he apparently shops a lot, and they didn’t blink at $35k for the surrogate.
Plus he was very spiffy in both flash backs (although that could just be playing to the gay stereotype) - which also argues money.
I think it said in the pilot, which is the only episode I’ve seen so far, that the other one was a lawyer. Of course, I can’t find anything to back that up. I might give it one more shot, but it will have to be as a rerun because I won’t miss Ghost Hunters.
The best thing I can say about The New Normal is that it spawned this post:
…which alerted me to the existence of Happy Endings, which after some wikipediaing and YouTubing some clips, makes me a happy person with a newly discovered show to catch up on. Thanks,** Abortion Fanatic**!
Gay couple checking in.
My SO and I thought we would really like this show…we were very wrong.
When you watch The New Normal, you realize just how good the writers of Modern Family really are, compared to the writers on this show. Modern Family is burst-out-laughing funny, but also has subtle wit and actors who can convey volumes with a glance. The New Normal thinks you have to use a sledge hammer and great speed to convey all thoughts and action.
The New Normal just doesn’t seem to have any heart and soul. Gay couple is vapid and both have the personality of a dial tone. If my SO and I ever met this couple in real life, we would avoid meeting them again at all costs.
The New Normal is certain not the worst show to hit the air waves recently (anyone remember that debacle called “Work It” with the two guys in drag that was yanked off the air after two episodes?) but the series has started off with a resounding thud.
It’s a shame - the premise is not bad and the timing for a show like this is right. Unfortunately, the writers are not up to the challenge and it is quickly becoming an embarrassment.
We will probably keep it on our DVR list for a few more episodes, but at this point, if the show is canceled, here are two Gay guys who will not be sad to hear that news.
