DVD Review: ‘The New Normal – The Complete First Season’

Article first published as DVD Review: ‘The New Normal – The Complete First Season’ on Blogcritics.

In the 2012-2013 television season, NBC presented a different kind of family sitcom called The New Normal. From the mind of Ryan Murphy (Glee, American Horror Story) and Allison Adler (Chuck, No Ordinary Family), it took what Modern Family does a step further, with an edgier, even less traditional clan, while still remaining thoroughly charming. Finally, the series, which ran only one year, comes to DVD, though the release is strangely subtitled The Complete First Season.

In 2014, we all know that not all families look the same, even less so than just a couple of decades ago, but while the television industry is getting better about portraying that, it still does not reflect the large diversity out there. The New Normal may be quite specific in the make-up of its clan, but the characters are earnest enough that most should find a way to relate, even if their circumstances don’t mirror exactly the mixture shown on screen.

The premise is simple enough: A young mother named Goldie (Georgia King, Little Dorrit), who gave birth to a daughter, Shania (Bebe Wood), as a teenager, is tired of putting her dreams on hold and relying on her bigoted grandmother Jane (Ellen Barkin, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Drop Dead Gorgeous). Jane raised Goldie after Goldie’s own mother, who also gave birth young, split. After Goldie catches her boyfriend cheating on her, she gets the courage needed to make a change. This leads her, with Shania in tow, to the strange land of California.

At the same time, a gay couple named Bryan (Andrew Rannells, Girls, The Book of Mormon) and David (Justin Bartha, The Hangover) are ready to start a family of their own. Armed with eggs provided by Abby (Gwyneth Paltrow, Glee, Iron Man), their first attempt is a misstep. But then they meet Goldie and decide she is perfect. After she agrees to serve as their surrogate, they offer to help her with her goals, much to the dismay of Jane, who has by now tracked them down.

Oh, and Bryan has an assistant named Rocky (NeNe Leakes, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Glee), whose love/hate relationship with Jane makes for some of the best material of the series.

Over the course of the year, there is actual growth among the characters, and lessons are learned. Yes, The New Normal can be slightly preachy at times, and the season finale, more so than any other episode, plays to conventional sitcom tropes. But maybe that’s a good thing, as the show needs to help people become more accepting, and by staging a half hour that feels like it could have been written for any other show, it feels ‘normal.’

Thankfully, the last episode ties up most of the major arcs pretty well, leaving us without a never-to-be-resolved cliffhanger.

The writers of this show clearly know what they’re talking about. Adler herself has gone through the surrogate process, and both creators are gay. The situations and characters they’ve created here feel only slightly exaggerated for television, avoiding stereotypes as much as possible, and are definitely well-defined enough to tug the heartstrings, with layers to various characters’ motivations. Bolstered by a terrific cast, The New Normal fully earned the People’s Choice Award it won for Favorite New TV Comedy, and more than a year after its cancellation, it is still missed.

This three-disc set contains all 22 episodes produced, but no special features at all. On the one hand, this is hugely disappointing because there is so much more I want to know about how the show came about and why it didn’t last. On the other hand, I guess fans should just be grateful we get the opportunity to relive the episodes at all, considering how quickly they came and went.

The New Normal – The Complete First Season is available now.

The New Normal Slightly Too Normal in Season Finale

Article first published as The New Normal Slightly Too Normal in Season Finale on TheTVKing.

NBC's freshman sitcom The New Normal completed its freshman run with a pair of episodes this week, "Finding Name-O" and "The Big Day." While not exactly a two-part story, these installments do flow well together, as Bryan (Andrew Rannells) and David (Justin Bartha) talk about baby names and prepare for their wedding, and then see the birth of their son and say their vows.

My issue with the episode, especially "The Big Day," is that The New Normal follows the traditional sitcom tropes. Right as Bryan and David are getting ready to say "I do," Goldie (Georgia King) goes into labor. Not only is this not the first show ever to have such an occurrence happen, it's not even the first series in the past month to use the scenario. As such, it feels completely stale and rote.

But maybe that's a good thing. The New Normal wants to show that an extended family, including two gay men raising a child, is just as typical as any other clan. By using such a familiar, played-to-death scenario for their year's final half hour, they seem even more like other programs on television.

However, I like to think they can do a little better, and they often do. There is plenty of sweetness and originality present throughout the first year of the series, including in these two chapters.

For instance, I love that Goldie decides not to go back to Clay (Jayson Blair) before the end, avoiding a predictable summer cliffhanger or a retread of a romance we've been shown is dead. Clay really is trying to change and be there for Goldie and Shania (Bebe Wood), but he has a lot to make up for. Someday, he may earn his place back at Goldie's side, but for now, it would be foolish of her to reconcile with a lazy, irresponsible ex, and she wisely chooses not to.

What's more, she is encouraged not to by those around her, who love and care about her. Sitcoms are the breeding ground for families made up of friends, which is sort of an artificial concept. The New Normal makes it feel authentic, though, and by reminding us how much Goldie has touched everyone's lives, and how much growth has happened for the characters this year, we see that this show will allow change and development much more so than many of its peers.

I also think it's important to have such a wonderful example of a steady gay couple on television. Bryan and David love each other, and even when the bicker, they both compromise to go out of their way and keep their relationship strong. This not only sets a great example for young gay viewers, but also may help the more closed-minded members of our society dispel some ugly and untrue myths about homosexuals, which linger mostly among the older generation.

The character that speaks to that the most is Jane (Ellen Barkin), of course. Jane arrives on the West Coast with some stubborn, Mid-Western opinions. (Disclaimer: I live in the Mid-West, and these are far from universally shared). After a little exposure to people outside of her small community, she sees that she is wrong, and she now understands a different point of view. She'll continue to be grump and coarse and have great one-liners, but she's a different person than in the first episode, and has become sort a role model.

The New Normal is hilarious, and there are plenty of funny moments in "Finding Name-O" and "The Big Day." Most of them involve the grooms' mothers (Jackie Hoffman and Mary Kay Place), who are both hilarious in their own right, and in totally different ways. We also get the return of Michael Hitchcock and John Benjamin Hickey.

The show is serious and touching, too. Among the best scenes in these episode are when Bryan and David agree on a name, Jane thanks Goldie for bringing her out to California, Jane and Rocky (NeNe Leakes) party together at the wedding, and when "Beautiful Boy" plays during the rush to the hospital for the baby's birth.

It does such a bit that Jane is not included in the beach wedding. I wonder why that was done.

I do wonder if there will be any objection from the Catholic community that a priest ends up performing the gay wedding ceremony. The Catholic Church is definitely an institution that is well behind the times on such issues (another disclaimer: I was raised to be Catholic), and it's fantastic to see someone playing a priest push for change in his own small way, but I could see some being upset about this. However, those are probably also the same people who wouldn't watch this show in the first place, so hopefully bad nothing comes of it.

The first year of The New Normal is relatively strong over all, with wonderful characters and heart-warming stories, and I look forward very much to a second batch of episodes next fall. If the show gets picked up, that is, which it deserves to be, but that is very much up in the air at this point. If you've enjoyed it, as I have, feel free to encourage NBC to renew The New Normal.

Is The New Normal normal?

Grade: 89%

Coming to NBC next week is a different kind of family sitcom. THE NEW NORMAL is from the minds of Ryan Murphy (Glee, American Horror Story) and Allison Adler (Chuck, No Ordinary Family), and takes what Modern Family does a step further, with an edgier, less traditional clan.

In 2012, we all know that not all families look the same, but our television shows still do not reflect the large diversity that is out there. THE NEW NORMAL may be quite specific, making their situation less relatable, but it’s the oddness and quirkiness that should prove entertaining. Also, seeing a group of people in such an untraditional situation may help many find this familiar, even if their circumstances don’t mirror exactly the mixture shown on screen.

The premise is this: A young mother named Goldie (Georgia King, Little Dorrit), who had daughter Shania (Bebe Wood) as a teenager, is tired of putting her dreams on hold and relying on her bigot grandmother, Jane (Ellen Barkin, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Drop Dead Gorgeous). Jane raised Goldie after Goldie’s own mother, who also gave birth young, split. After Goldie catches her boyfriend cheating on her, she gets the courage needed to make a change. This leads her, with Shania in tow, to the strange land of California.

At the same time, a gay couple named Bryan (Andrew Rannells, Girls, The Book of Mormon) and David (Justin Bartha, The Hangover), are ready to start a family of their own. Armed with eggs provided by Abby (Gwyneth Paltrow, Glee, Iron Man), their first attempt is a misstep. But then they meet Goldie, and decide she is perfect. After she agrees to serve as their surrogate, they offer to help her with her goals, much to the dismay of Jane, who has by now tracked them down.

The writers of this show clearly know what they’re talking about. Adler, herself, has gone through the surrogate process, and both creators are gay. The situations and characters they’ve created here feel only slightly exaggerated for television, and are definitely well-defined enough to tug the heartstrings. Bolstered by a terrific cast, the first episode, at least, is a sweet story with a lot of potential.

THE NEW NORMAL does not play to stereotypes too much. While sometimes the characters act exactly as one might expect they would, this isn’t always the case, and there are layers and motivations behind the various decisions they make. For instance, Jane isn’t just a bigot because she’s old. Her husband cheated on her with another man. It’s no wonder, then, that she is uncomfortable around gay people, her personal experiences clouding her overall opinion.

As to why she also is racist, well, that isn’t clear yet. We do know that the guys have a gal named Bryan has an assistant named Rocky (NeNe Leakes), and Jane doesn’t like her, either. But that’s something to explore another day.

Those familiar with Murphy’s other recent work may be expecting a song-less Glee, but hopefully this will not be the case. Glee proved that even if a good pilot is delivered, the story can still be wildly uneven, airing terrible weeks right after great ones. It will be interesting to see if, with a smaller cast, and without the structure that songs necessarily build into the story, Murphy can maintain a high quality. He did it with American Horror Story last year, albeit in a different genre entirely.

All in all, THE NEW NORMAL looks to be a fun new series that feels fresh and different from the standard fare. This opinion could change as the season unfolds, but it has made a good first impression, and on television, as in life, that is extremely important, and not always easy to do.