The Disney network has been rolling out the funny lately. All its recent new series, which have premiered in the space of a few weeks (with more on the way), are so light and airy, it makes you wonder if it was planned or if the green-lighters at ABC have been huffing helium. Two of the newest series have a tad more meat attached to them in that they both take on two great, arguable myths: women’s natural ability to nurture and the most revisited subject of all, love and romance.
In the Motherhood premiered last week. Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Megan Mullally (Will & Grace), and Jessica St. Clair (Worst Week) star as three friends and mothers who support one another as they navigate parenthood while juggling work, marriage, and divorce. There are no surprises in the definition of the triumvirate: Emily (St. Clair) is on her way to sainthood and a nervous breakdown, trying to be the perfect wife and mother. Her sister Jane (Hines) has just re-entered the work force and is juggling home life with new life as a single woman eager for romance. Looking fabulous at midlife, Mullally’s Rosemary is the antithesis of a good mother. She has a teenage son who has turned out okay in spite of her outrageous parenting style. And of course, Rosemary is the most interesting and likable of the three, perhaps because she’s the most transgressive. It’s through her that the idea of motherhood is most directly interrogated. Because Mullally is so funny and charming, her character’s assault on traditional definitions of motherhood comes as a delicious pie in the face. It’s hard to feel sorry for Emily or Jane, with their fabulous houses, Emily’s successful (if uptight) husband, an interesting job that enables Jane to have a manny (Saturday Night Live‘s Horatio Sanz), and perfect, well-cared-for children. So, when Rosemary fakes a pregnancy to enjoy the lavish attention and perks that pregnant women get, single, intentionally childless women everywhere must cheer a little bit. Sure, her lie is revealed, and she’s roundly punished – but the ride was well worth it.
Early episodes of In the Motherhood careen a little too quickly. One hopes that the sprint will slow to a more reasonable trot when the show settles into a groove and gains an audience (which might prove difficult: Variety recently reported that ABC intends to only air six of the originally ordered 13 episodes, citing a packed spring schedule.)
When it comes to love, some say it’s sweeter the second time around, but that might not be the case for this re-rendering of Rob Thomas‘ Cupid, which premiered this week. In a rare turn, Thomas (Veronica Mars) was given a second shot at his series, which had a cult following when it first premiered in 1998 with Jeremy Piven (Entourage) in the title role. This time around, Bobby Cannavale (Third Watch) stars as the charming Trevor Pierce, who claims to be the Roman god Cupid, sent to earth to make 100 matches before he’s allowed to return to Mount Olympus. His take on love as something wild, to be given into with abandon, goes against the rational approach of the psychiatrist charged to oversee Trevor after he’s arrested in Times Square trying to help a man find his lost love. Dr. Claire McCrae (Sarah Paulson, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) is clearly supposed to be Trevor/Cupid’s Psyche, but Paulson is so unrelentingly rigid, any softness shown toward Trevor appears forced. What one imagines should be heated banter between two opposites that attract is reduced to a deadpan debate on love. What elicits cheers are the love matches that Trevor succeeds in making – against all odds, against logic, against better judgment. That McCrae is not there to witness it is a blessing and a curse. If she were present, she would be a killjoy. But since she’s not there to witness the miraculous matches, Trevor’s work goes unnoticed. And we’re all rooting for Trevor, aren’t we? The thing is, we should be rooting for McCrae, as well.
In the Motherhood airs Thursdays at 7pm. Cupid airs Tuesdays at 9pm, both on ABC.
This article appears in April 3 • 2009.