The Series Premiere of Raising Hope Is Funnier, Crazier Than Expected
Most of you will recognize this show as you changed the channel on after Glee ended. Others will have watched because of Cloris Leachman and that chick from all those 80's movies. The rest of you— what's your excuse?
The Pitch
What Your TV Guide Said: A comedy about a new addition to an extended dysfunctional family, 23-year-old Jimmy Chance (Lucas Neff) adjusts to life as a single father following a fling with a violent criminal (Bijou Phillips), but he has some difficulty convincing his parents to take in another mouth to feed.
Here's a trailer:
The Set Up
The show is a dark comedy that feels something like My Name is Earl combined with Teen Mom (or any of the teen pregnancy shows that I refuse to watch because I find them depressing.) Cloris Leachman plays a the Grandmother to a motley crew who happens to have lost her mind completely—and also goes shirtless once or twice in the pilot episode. The rest of the cast is likeable enough, but it's kind of weird that the main character's parents seem so young (which they address, but still feels weird.)
I think these four minutes of the show pretty much explain it all—from the plot to how over-the-top the show's cast is. Watch it!
[There was a video here]
Things that immediately stood out to me upon watching:
- Man, that family is poor.
- The men on this show really enjoy graphic tees.
- Did the mother really name her baby Princess Beyoncé?
- Do we really need so see that much of Cloris Leachman's body?
- Did we really just watch a scene where a baby watches her mother fry in the electric chair?
Cringe Factor (Out of 10)
Good lord, this gets a cringe-factor of a 9! Not because it's bad, but because I couldn't help but think about all of the people the show was offending. Forget jokes about about being an unfit parent (or what seems to be borderline-baby abuse) but the scene (which you can watch above) where the baby watches it's mothers electrocution? That was a bit intense!
How Long Until It's Canceled?
I give it one season—that is, unless it gets canceled first. While it has the advantage of the Glee lead-in, the gritty comedy doesn't seem like it will be the kind of show that Gleeks enjoy. Beyond that, I can only imagine the rage that conservative Moms will feel towards this show, and thus, feel like the show will have more haters than fans. But who knows? Only time will tell.