Maybe I'm way late to the party on this one but hey thats how it goes sometimes.
Everybody watches one of these shows. These premium cable dramedies. Once again, if you've been a non-connected hermit for the past 10 years (like my dad), thats a show thats not quite all drama and not quite comedy. You'll be laughing your ass off one second and horrifed the next. Dexter is a dark one, and the first three seasons of Weeds were the prime example in my head. Shameless, Californication, The Big C, Nurse Jackie...it's one of the most popular genres aside from "gritty crime" on the HBO/Showtimes of the world. I finally started watching one of the ones everyone talks about but it seems few have seen (and few watched since it was cancelled after 3 seasons), United States of Tara.
The basic plot? Artist/Housewife Tara has Dissociative Identity Disorder (technical term for multiple personalities) At any time she can transition between herself, T (a 15 year old party girl), Buck (a redneck vietnam veteran), Alice (a 50's houswife), and Gimmi (an animalistic primal personality). We see her family constantly having to adjust as plans are made, and then changed.
What makes this show work is the actors. Toni Collette floats seamlessly between the personalities (with a little obvious transition, its still television folks) and is somehow makes you completely believe each personality. The husband (John Corbett) Max plays a man stressed to the brink almost constantly, as he has to clean up the mess, but loves his wife and puts up with all of it. The man should be nominated for sainthood in some episodes. The kids have the perfect amount of teenage angst and frustration, yet when the shit hits the fan, for the most part they're there to help the family make it through.
Even though I don't usually like Diablo Cody (I'm like the only person ever who didn't like Juno all that much), she does well writing here. The dialogue feels real, the situations are plausible, and nothing is really glorified without the consequences being shown. Between the writing and the acting, you get a show that shouldn't work whatsoever become so believable and real that you almost feel like the family lives down the street from you. Often there's a decent soundtrack behind the whole thing and I'm always a sucker for that.
Honestly, my only complaint so far is not enough Patton Oswalt. I love that guy. I'm still in season 1 though so things could change.
I really don't want to spoil much (even though I already did a little bit) so this is going to be a short one. If you haven't watched this yet, its 36 episodes at 30 minutes a pop. Start watching this one now. You can be through it in like 2 days.
-Oz
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