A truly funny sitcom is hard to find. Which is why I'm happy to report that I have found yet another one for your viewing pleasure. Over the past few weeks, I have breezed through two seasons of Raising Hope and found the latest dysfunctional family whose antics are comedy gold.
Raising Hope tells the story of the Chances, a family that can be described harshly as "poor white trash" or generously as "financially challenged." Virginia (the irrepressibly delightful Martha Plimpton who received an Emmy nomination for this role) and Burt (the equally wonderful Garret Dillahunt) got married in high school after Virginia got pregnant at fifteen. She gave birth to her son Jimmy on prom night and now, 23 years later, Jimmy is about to get into a lot of trouble. He has a one-night stand with Lucy, a girl who turns out to be a serial killer. When the family find out she's a criminal, they capture her and call the authorities. Lucy is given the death penalty, but upon discovering she's pregnant with Jimmy's baby, she gets a nine-month reprieve. The baby is born and handed off to Jimmy, and Lucy is electrocuted. Now Jimmy has to raise the baby with the help of his parents and Virginia's grandmother, Maw Maw, who is suffering from dementia and is barely able to remember to put a shirt on every day, let alone help with raising a child. It's a bizarre start to a comedy, but as Dr. Seuss said, "Oh, the places you'll go!"
The baby is, of course, named Hope, and Jimmy's inept handling of this child provides some amusement for the first few episodes. Lucas Neff is great as the hapless Jimmy Chance, who wants to be a great father but has no clue how to go about it. But the show truly picks up steam as we delve into the crazy lives of the Chances and find out what makes them tick. This is a truly bizarre family, but in spite of all their weirdness, they manage to function day by day and love each other fiercely. Virginia and Burt are a wonderful couple and they stand by their son through thick and thin as he gets a job at a local supermarket and starts to fall for Sabrina, the checkout girl who becomes the inevitable love interest over the first two seasons. Shannon Woodward is warm and merry as Sabrina Collins, a girl who is much more privileged than the Chances and yet chooses not to judge their goofy trashiness, but instead admires their tight-knit family.
However, in this modern era, what truly makes a sitcom stand out is its ability to get meta and self-referential. And Raising Hope's second season provides a never ending barrage of delightful in-jokes and meta-commentary that asks why anyone would watch a story about a poor family raising a serial killer's baby, or how they seem to learn something new every week. There are some hilarious themed episodes that are based on The Wizard of Oz and It's a Wonderful Life that make you chuckle knowingly. But most importantly, the show's creator is Greg Garcia, who created the hilarious My Name is Earl, which ran for four seasons. Raising Hope often features guest stars from the Earl acting roster and several episodes refer to the Earl universe as an added treat for those of us in the audience who remember and loved that show.
Altogether, Raising Hope is an example of the classic dysfunctional family sitcom that has been perfectly updated for the modern audience. It works on as many levels as you are comfortable with - if all you want is a cozy sitcom with a cute baby and a family that solves zany problems every week, then that's what you'll get. If that's not sophisticated enough for you, pay attention to throwaway lines of dialogue that poke fun at the sitcom format and the writing and zany situations. And if you were a fan of My Name is Earl, then you've just hit the jackpot. The show is available on Hulu and the third season premieres on Fox in October - start watching!
Raising Hope tells the story of the Chances, a family that can be described harshly as "poor white trash" or generously as "financially challenged." Virginia (the irrepressibly delightful Martha Plimpton who received an Emmy nomination for this role) and Burt (the equally wonderful Garret Dillahunt) got married in high school after Virginia got pregnant at fifteen. She gave birth to her son Jimmy on prom night and now, 23 years later, Jimmy is about to get into a lot of trouble. He has a one-night stand with Lucy, a girl who turns out to be a serial killer. When the family find out she's a criminal, they capture her and call the authorities. Lucy is given the death penalty, but upon discovering she's pregnant with Jimmy's baby, she gets a nine-month reprieve. The baby is born and handed off to Jimmy, and Lucy is electrocuted. Now Jimmy has to raise the baby with the help of his parents and Virginia's grandmother, Maw Maw, who is suffering from dementia and is barely able to remember to put a shirt on every day, let alone help with raising a child. It's a bizarre start to a comedy, but as Dr. Seuss said, "Oh, the places you'll go!"
The baby is, of course, named Hope, and Jimmy's inept handling of this child provides some amusement for the first few episodes. Lucas Neff is great as the hapless Jimmy Chance, who wants to be a great father but has no clue how to go about it. But the show truly picks up steam as we delve into the crazy lives of the Chances and find out what makes them tick. This is a truly bizarre family, but in spite of all their weirdness, they manage to function day by day and love each other fiercely. Virginia and Burt are a wonderful couple and they stand by their son through thick and thin as he gets a job at a local supermarket and starts to fall for Sabrina, the checkout girl who becomes the inevitable love interest over the first two seasons. Shannon Woodward is warm and merry as Sabrina Collins, a girl who is much more privileged than the Chances and yet chooses not to judge their goofy trashiness, but instead admires their tight-knit family.
However, in this modern era, what truly makes a sitcom stand out is its ability to get meta and self-referential. And Raising Hope's second season provides a never ending barrage of delightful in-jokes and meta-commentary that asks why anyone would watch a story about a poor family raising a serial killer's baby, or how they seem to learn something new every week. There are some hilarious themed episodes that are based on The Wizard of Oz and It's a Wonderful Life that make you chuckle knowingly. But most importantly, the show's creator is Greg Garcia, who created the hilarious My Name is Earl, which ran for four seasons. Raising Hope often features guest stars from the Earl acting roster and several episodes refer to the Earl universe as an added treat for those of us in the audience who remember and loved that show.
Altogether, Raising Hope is an example of the classic dysfunctional family sitcom that has been perfectly updated for the modern audience. It works on as many levels as you are comfortable with - if all you want is a cozy sitcom with a cute baby and a family that solves zany problems every week, then that's what you'll get. If that's not sophisticated enough for you, pay attention to throwaway lines of dialogue that poke fun at the sitcom format and the writing and zany situations. And if you were a fan of My Name is Earl, then you've just hit the jackpot. The show is available on Hulu and the third season premieres on Fox in October - start watching!
No comments:
Post a Comment