Somehow I missed that this had started already...or existed. I'll catch up on the pilot when I find it somewhere (Hulu?). In the meantime - Context-less first exposure reaction GO!
Reagan and Chris are apparently relatively new parents, having apparently come from a hard partying 20's and suddenly finding themselves settled down with a child and a stable, successful professional life. Reagan (Applegate) works for Maya Rudolph's Ava, a vain reality-disconnected Tyra clone. I gathered the above strictly from the 30 second opening credits/montage/titles.
Reagan and Chris, missing their old swinging life, spy the new Officially Cool neighbors moving in and try to impress them with a series of painfully awkward exchanges and bluffs. It all culminates in them having to slip away to the neighbors party, in order to pretend they've been there awhile, so the neighbors don't know it was them who called the police to complain about the noise because it was 11:30 and the music was keeping Baby Amy awake.
In Maya Rudolph world, Baby Amy apparently cries whenever she's being held by Rudoph's Ava!, and Ava! doesn't like the idea that someone in the world doesn't like her. So she spends the episode trying to bribe the barely sentient infant with expensive gifts such as a Baby Wallet (a small wallet) and a baby handbag (a change purse). Eventually all it takes is a little alone time, a soft touch, and the absolute minimum of humility that Ava can muster. Once the baby seems to love her, Ava's all good, and tries to pawn it off on anyone else who'll rescue her from having to hold a drooling poop factory.
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Meh. Well meh sprinkled with active dislike. It actually took me awhile to get through the episode. I paused it halfway through, switched to Free Agents, paused THAT, hit up an episode of Monk on Netflix, and eventually meandered back around. I really, REALLY like both actors, so I'll keep giving it a shot, but man, that was painful. I think it's just that I really don't like to watch humor where people make complete fools of themselves for extended periods of time. It's painful, and embarassing, and just plain awkward. You wouldn't want to be these people, so you can't identify with them (or when you can, it's not really something you want to relive), and you don't particularly like them because they're acting like such dorks. That leaves you with no emotoinal investment, and a profound sense of uncomfortableness. Other shows can pull this off. Curb Your Enthusiasm somehow makes it work because Larry David is more or less purposefully acting like a jackass most of the time. It's a choice on his part. The Office (both versions) would make strong use of the Straight Man to empathically ground Michael Scott's/David Brent's asshattery. We have no such straight men here, and the show suffers for it.
That's not to say I didn't enjoy any of it. Basically every scene where they stop acting like jackasses rings true. The quiet moments between husband and wife, the playful teasing over Train, vigorous challenging of the "I only like it ironically" defense. All excellent, and made me want to see more.
All of that applies to the Maya Rudolph character as well. Less overtly sociopathic Tyra clone, more self-absorbed-but-still-basically-decent moments (like the baby bonding) go a long way. I inferred from the opening titles that Reagan, Chris, and Ava were a best-3-some, before Ava hit it big. If that's correct, I would've liked some exploration of the idea that it's not neccessarily a pathological need to be liked that's freaking Ava out, but a concern that such a big part of her best friend's life doesn't like her. But that's just me imagining entire plots onto a show I know nothign about.
But, basically, if they can manage to gain enough confidence in their realism and less leaning on the crude attempts at cringe comedy (cause let's face it, it's not even GOOD cringe comedy like UK Office), and you could have a funny, touching show about new parents dealing with massive changes in their lives.
That reminds me, I really have to start watching Raising Hope...
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