Editor's Review Suburgatory

(September 29th, 2011. - www.tvview.tv)               Jeremy Sisto, Jane Levy, Carly Chaikin, Allie Grant, Alan Tudyk and Cheryl Hines star in the half hour comedy Suburgatory, airing Wednesday nights on ABC. Single father George only wants the best for his 16-year-old daughter, Tessa. So when he finds a box of condoms on her nightstand, he moves them out of their apartment in New York City to a house in the suburbs. But all Tessa sees is the horror of over-manicured lawns and plastic Franken-moms. Being in the ‘burbs can be hell, but it also may just bring Tessa and George closer than they’ve ever been.   Tessa (Levy) and George (Sisto) have been on their own ever since Tessa’s mom left before she was even potty trained. So far, George has done a pretty good job of raising Tessa without a maternal figure in their lives, but suddenly he’s feeling a little out of his league. So it’s goodbye New York City and hello suburbs. At first Tessa is horrified by the big-haired, fake-boobed mothers and their sugar-free Red Bull-chugging kids. But little by little she and her dad begin finding a way to survive on the clean streets of the ‘burbs. Sure, the neighbours might smother you with love while their kids stare daggers at your back, but underneath all that plastic and caffeine, they’re really not half bad. And they do make a tasty pot roast.             One of the problems I have when a comedy tries to overcome a stereotype, is that first they have to establish that stereotype before they can knock it down. The pilot episode of the comedy does better than most to humanize both sides of the battle. We see early that it is the tough New Yorkers who must adapt to the pretty and clean suburbs, but before long we are also seeing some of the shine come off of the burbs too.             I hope this comedy tries to show us the human characters behind the stereotypes rather than getting caught up on the surface. There is lot of good material to cover if the characters are allowed to go in those directions. If they are forced to keep this effort as just another shallow comedy about nothing, it will quickly get lost in the shuffle. If they manage to rise above the commonplace, this could be the hit of the season. No pressure guys.    - Editor

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