Revue ‘Leanne’: Netflix comedy produced by Chuck Lorre

Netflix Leanne Opens with a devastating loss. While the series begins, her eponymous heroine (played by Leanne Morgan) only makes the treatment of the news that her husband, Bill (Ryan Stiles), decided to leave her for another woman – thus upsetting the very foundation of the life she has built in the last 33 years as a dedicated woman, occasional trade partner and adored mother of their two children now.

Leanne, naturally, is furious and the heart broken. LeanneHowever, feels anything but. Coriented by the King of the sitcom Chuck Lorre with Morgan and Susan McMartin, the sitcom turns more sweet than the bitter, more sparkling than heavy, more concentrated on the comic possibilities of the Grand Open future of Leanne than the poignant memories of his past. If it is rarely hilarious, it is pleasant in a robust and old -fashioned way, with a dependence on returning to the basics with sympathetic characters and an accessible chemistry on topical jokes or a formal experiment.

Although it is not autobiographical – among others, Morgan is not divorced – Leanne is built around the same character at the bottom at home perfected by its main actress for years in Standup. (Fans could recognize some scenarios or phrase turns reported by specials like Netflix I am every woman.)

Here, as in this previous material, Morgan’s attraction lies in a joyfully self-depreciating and accentuated relative of the south which makes you want to pull a chair in his suburban kitchen of Tennessee-even if it is just to listen to his monologue on everything, “tiny hateful culminants” in this kind of gal can bring to a man, an ex-detainely decreased friend.

But Leanne brings more to the table than the routine of a woman from Morgan. At the reception of this diatriber is Carol, his former wild child twice a little sister. Kristen Johnson (Lorre Mom) Play the character with a range of exaggerated facial expressions perfect for reaction photos, and a drier, more sturdy, more “cosmopolitan” (she lived in Chicago, we often remember) to balance the sweetest and folk in Leanne.

Their warm and easy chemistry is the heart of the series, which makes it simultaneously comforting and ambitious: everyone should be so lucky to have a journey or Die who will agree to age with you in “eccentric sisters that all children in the neighborhood are afraid to get closer”, and even in a way to signify it.

While Leanne is content to reconcile with her new reality, it is Carol who becomes her shoulder to cry, her cheerleader and, while Leanne gradually kisses her single, her romance coach. The concept of dating while menopause is perhaps nothing radical in a universe where … and just like that And Golden Girls already exist – but then, Leanne has not really been out to ignite new trails anyway. On the contrary, between its gentle humor, its multi-row configuration and its too enthusiastic laughter, this comedy is designed for having the impression of having spread at any time during the last three decades, giving or taking the occasional reference to Tinder or Ozempic.

The fact that his return sensitivity presents itself mainly as classic rather than Hoary testifies to the skill of the distribution and the experienced team, as well as the confident turn of Morgan. This also helps that the episodes never exceed their welcome, ending about 20 minutes each at a time when the comedies in streaming “half an hour” are used to raising the racing times of 40 minutes.

There are few gags in Leanne That you will not have already encountered a version somewhere else, and some of its punchlines are so warm that the laughter of the public resembles more of an act of generosity than real and spontaneous reality. But if a line like: “Do you think I’m going to crawl in a foreigner’s bed and let him see all of this?” It looks like nothing new on the page, the sincere horror with which Morgan delivers it nevertheless to land.

Leanne Take a light touch with heavy emotions. He never lives so long on the sorrow of his protagonist that our sympathy is hidden in frustration, and makes it up to dip its most sentimental beats with a playful button and Jokey. But that deals with his uncertainty about this new phase of life with dignity and compassion, giving it space to be unshakable or angry or clumsy along the way. Morgan is never more hilarious, for example, than when she throws herself positively to a new crush – but the scenario also allows moments of authentic sorrow, as when Leanne realizes that the time has finally come to remove her alliance for good.

Less consistent, from the eight episodes (out of 16) sent to criticism, is the whole that surrounds it. Some are splashing right away. In addition to Johnson, the clear MVP, Stiles clicks instantly in place as Bill, whose Hangdog atmosphere makes him more pitiful than easy, just like Tim Daly as an agent of the FBI which is interested (professional and otherwise) in Leanne. In a recurring role, Jayma Mays is a hoe as a curious neighbor of Leanne, who cannot resist following a reassuring “You have nothing to be ashamed” with a passive-agressive “even if it is understandable why you would be ashamed”.

On the other hand, Celia Weston and Blake Clark are fun but underused as Parents of Leanne, while the appearances of Graham Rogers and Hannah Pilkes as Leanne’s infants are so irregular and a note, they barely make an impression. But it is not unusual for a comedy cast to take some time to frost, and given how much the rest of the production feels very oiled, there are all the reasons to be optimistic, these characters will ultimately focus.

At this stage, the series may be able to draw from greater potential, deepening its exploration of Leanne’s vulnerabilities while landing jokes that cause full-fledged laughter and not just indulgent smiles. Or maybe this will not be the case, and it will also go. As is, Leanne is the television equivalent of the friend who will never take you for the craziest night of your life, but which can be invoked to bring a bottle of wine and settle on the sofa for cute anecdotes and sometimes serious advice. In other words, it is simply a good suspension.