# The New Normal **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-normal/634514 "2012-09-12T16:28:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-normal/634514/21 "2012-09-13T15:52:26Z")
I wasn’t really paying much attention, really just in the room while my wife was watching the last 15-20 minutes on Wednesday night, but here’s the thing that jumped out - nay, verily LEAPED out - at me. The camera work and editing is _ **atrocious** _. I know the new popular style is to try to recreate the docu-realistic-found footage look, but this went waaaaay beyond that. Unreasonable jump cuts, the camera swaying around the room before locking in on one of the characters … just terrible. Nobody else noticed that? ---
**Author:** ![shemarstan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@shemarstan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shemarstan)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-normal/634514/22 "2012-09-14T00:01:22Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > 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. The very fact that we are not sure what or who her character is tells us how much the writers really don’t care if there writing is causing a potentially good show to be sub par. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-normal/634514/23 "2012-09-14T18:45:25Z")
It’s too bad, I really like the blonde surrogate and the whole “possible to not be a bigot even when raised by them” line but it is really poorly executed. I’ll probably give it a couple more episodes before banishing it from the list. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-normal/634514/24 "2012-09-14T18:53:19Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > 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\*\*! 🙂 Happy Endings is my second favorite show right now, just behind Community and Community’s only ahead because of Shirley and Joel’s abs. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-normal/634514/25 "2012-09-14T19:20:13Z")
I really wanted to like this. The goal of the show is laudable, but the execution was hit or miss. (I think the flamboyant partner is a writer? maybe?) I guess I don’t mind one caricature as long as most of the characters have a little more depth. The stuff they had Barkin saying was just weird. No one says that in real life; it was more like a stand up comedian working really blue. Or maybe things that racists say to one another, but there’s no way real bigots actually say that to the faces of people they don’t like. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-normal/634514.md?page=1)