USA is PLAYING HOUSE

Article first published as TV Review: 'Playing House' - 'Pilot; Bird Bones' on Blogcritics.

USA premieres Playing House, this week with a two-episode premiere, the network’s second-ever sitcom. In the first episode “Pilot,” Emma Carter (Jessica St. Clair, Bridesmaids) gives up her career to move back home and help her pregnant best friend, Maggie Caruso (Lennon Parham, Confessions of a Shopaholic), raise her baby after Maggie kicks out her no-good husband. In the second episode, “Bird Bones,” the girls make an effort to befriend Emma’s ex-boyfriend’s wife.

If Playing House seems familiar, you may be thinking of the short-lived series Best Friends Forever, also starring and created by Parham and St. Clair. Maggie and Emma are very similar to those characters, Parham once again portraying a woman in a relationship, while St. Clair is the single girl. Once again, the focus is much more on the friendship than on their romantic entanglements. The chemistry between the two women is really the backbone of the show.

In “Pilot,” Maggie’s husband, Bruce (Brad Morris, Cougar Town), is caught cheating on her in a big, public way, establishing why Emma would quit her successful career to come back to a town she hates. On one hand, I’m disappointed with the cheating setup, because Maggie’s marriage had seemed so solid. I had assumed Bruce would be killed off, which might have been a more emotionally satisfying turn of events. On the other, Playing House is solidly a comedy, and even the dramatic moments are played for laughs, thanks to a raccoon or other outside influence, so by making Bruce a cheater, they don’t have to get too deep or sad.

“Bird Bones” takes a similar tact as Maggie and Emma have brunch with Tina Rodriguez (Lindsay Sloane, Horrible Bosses), the wife of Emma’s ex, policeman Mark (Keegan-Michael Key, Key & Peele). This could be a charged sequence in which Emma worries about past wrongs, and the girls feel deeply bad about how they treated Tina in high school. Instead, the women accidentally get soaked in Tina’s shower, then help her sort through a room full of junk that she secretly hoards. Laughs are much more important that development for these characters.

It’s a broad style of comedy, but it works well because the relationship between the females at the center is so well-established and authentic: a modern day Lucy and Ethel, except with both on equal footing. They are two real-life friends who really enjoy one another, and that shows on screen.

I’m really glad they have been given a second chance at a series because I liked their first effort and this one feels much the same, perhaps with even more freedom to be edgy, Playing House airing on cable instead of a broadcast network. The tone may not be for everyone, but the good news is that it’s established right away so you’ll know within the first few minutes whether to invest your time or not. For my part, I think it’s definitely worth it.

The supporting cast is strong and in demand, which could hurt the long-term viability of Playing House. Key has his own successful Comedy Central series which he writes and stars in, as well as just completing a run on FX’s Fargo. The cast also includes Zach Woods (The Office and one of the stars of HBO’s Silicon Valley) playing Maggie’s odd brother with a crush on Emma. These types of players will certainly add to the appeal of the show, but could make it hard to schedule many episodes in a year, though thankfully cable usually asks for fewer installments than, say, NBC.

With Sirens and Playing House, USA has made a serious foray into the comedy world. A bit more intelligent than most TBS sitcoms, which is probably the closest thing to compare them to, these are enjoyable shows with talented people. More like this batch and we’ll soon forget the network used to just be fluffy, funny, light weight procedurals.

Playing House airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on USA.

VEEP Learns How "D.C." Works

Article first published as VEEP Learns How "D.C." Works on TheTVKing.

HBO's Veep ends its second year with "D.C." Selina (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is ready to announce she won't run for re-election with the president in two years, and so lets her staff go. Then, learning the president is resigning, she asks them all back to gear up for her own run, only to have it fall apart as rumors spread around Washington and the president decides to campaign after all. Of course, none of that matters when the president comes to Selina and announces he's done, so she can try for the presidency.

I have a feeling these back and forth types of situations go on all the time in Washington D.C. It's a city of wheeling and dealing, and one where betrayals happen frequently if someone things they can further their own career. With so many power-hungry, ambitious people in one place, there is bound to be lots of drama.

Veep makes these attitudes hilarious somehow. Even as Selina's staff scrambles to find a life raft off of her sinking ship, we root for them. Selina is a mess, as is very clear in almost every scene in which she appears. Because of this, one can understand and sympathize with those wanting to find a more stable environment where they won't constantly be putting out their fires.

Well, it's easy to pull for most of the staff, anyway. Dan (Reid Scott) jumps ship early and with gusto, even sharing a speech he writes for Selina with Chung (Randall Park, Larry Crowne). I don't know if it's because he doesn't have the history working for Selina, and so never seems as loyal as anyone else, or because he shows so few scruples in his interactions, but Dan is the most unforgiveable of the bunch. Unfortunately for him, this gaff either proves the others are rubbing off on him, or he is just as much of a mess as everyone else, and so belongs there.

It's interesting to see the parallels in "D.C" between Selina and Andrew (David Pasquesi, The Mob Doctor) and Amy (Anna Chlumsky) and Ed (Zach Woods, The Office). Amy hates seeing how Andrew affects Selina, and how they use one another. Ed and her aren't quite so passionate, but they do use each other, much as Selina and Andrew do. Perhaps Amy is emulating her boss more than she thinks.

The plot that doesn't really work for me this week is Gary (Tony Hale) being torn between Selina and his girlfriend, Dana (Jessica St. Clair, Best Friends Forever). It not only feels too much like Hale's character from Arrested Development, but also doesn't really fit the persona of Gary, whom we've only seen worship Selina. Perhaps it's believable that he would latch onto someone else, but we didn't see that evolution, and Dana's interest in Gary doesn't come across as realistic.

Overall, though, Veep really works in the most unexpected of ways. Louis-Dreyfus is a comic genius, surrounded by other heavy weights. Each nuance and tick lands, and even the most pathetic becomes funny in their capable hands. It may be the earnestness with which the cast plays, which also includes Matt Walsh, Timothy Simons, and Sufe Bradshaw, commits to every situation and moment, or the level of authenticity they bring to their selfish screw-ups, but there are usually several things to laugh out loud at each and every week.

This has only been helped more by bringing in Kent (Gary Cole) and Ben (Kevin Dunn) this season. Like when Parks and Recreation added Ben and Chris, having two established, talented actors expand the world of the show, as well as compliment the core group in their every scene, only makes the series better. I credit them both for season two being a marked improvement over season one.

I don't know what season three will look like, exactly. We may actually get to see Selina run for office, which will be cool, since Veep begins after she loses the first race. With the set up the series has provided, there are a myriad of directions and possibilities to explore, and each has their advantages.

Whatever the reason, Veep is doing very well, and I can't wait to see it come back next spring for a third go-round.

'Best Friends Forever' begins

NBC's newest comedy, premiering last night, is Best Friends Forever, which was created by its two female lead actresses. Jessica Black (Jessica St. Clair, Bridesmaids, Worst Week) is served divorce papers by her husband, so she runs home to seek comfort from her best friend, Lennon Walker (Lennon Parham, Funny or Die Presents..., Confessions of a Shopaholic). But Lennon has a live-in boyfriend now named Joe (Luka Jones), and soon, her priorities are split.

Best Friends Forever is an interesting set up. In most sitcoms, a visiting friend is in an annoyance who soon leaves. If a significant other enters into the picture and steals time away from close friends, a break up is imminent. The entire premise set up in the "Pilot" is exactly the opposite. The best friend is the one coming in and taking time away from the established significant other, and both opposing parties are here to stay.

Joe and Jessica seem to be about equally important to Lennon. While Jessica harks more from the past, since she hasn't been living nearby, Joe is Lennon's present. And Lennon is at ease with both, nurturing different parts of herself with each of them. They are complementary in her mind, and keeping them separate has worked out pretty well. Now, the worlds collide, and hilarity ensues.

Thankfully, Best Friends Forever doesn't harness itself to the cheapest, most expected stories. Jessica tries to push Joe out for only a short time in the "Pilot." Then she realizes the depth of Lennon's feelings for Joe, and that Joe is a good man. Immediately, there is a shift. This does not mean that Jessica and Joe are destined to be close pals anytime soon; they are completely different people, and not in an opposites-attract sort of way. Instead, they will learn to tolerate each other for the sake of Lennon.

So where does Best Friends Forever go from here? Jessica can't stay with Lennon and Joe forever, but she'll have to be close by. Will she begin dating again, while Lennon and Joe are adjusting to what being together in the long-term means? Or will the comedy focus more on the interactions between the three of them?

The three leads in Best Friends Forever are all very good. They each bring something different to the table, and their clashing chemistry is entertaining. They are joined by Rav (Stephen Schneider), a former love interest of Jessica's, who doesn't have a place in the larger group at the moment. Until he carves his niche, it's hard to see where he will fit in, other than as a short-term option for Jessica. The fifth cast member is Daija Owens as Queenetta, the young neighbor with a sharp wit. Kudos to Best Friends Forever for putting their token sass into the mouth of an adorable child. It feels like a fresh take on a sitcom staple. Which is an apt description for the show as a whole, too.

Most importantly, if the "Pilot" is anything to go by, Best Friends Forever is very funny. From blow up chairs, to big-boobed avatars, to impressions from Steel Magnolias, to bathroom confessions, joke after joke lands. Impressive for a first outing, which is tasked with setting up the entire story, not just defining a brand of humor. This episode does both.

Watch Best Friends Forever Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

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