NBC’s ‘One Big’ may be a lot of things, but none is happy
With Tuesday’s premiere of the NBC sitcom “One Big Happy,” the LGBT community has achieved a very significant milestone in its struggle for equality: It has proved that a show about gay characters can be just as god-awful as a show about straight people.
The only reason I can see for these paltry six episodes to have been greenlighted is that Ellen DeGeneres is one of the show’s producers. She’s advised in the future to stick to dancing in her sneakers. If she’s really looking for something to do, a sequel to “Mr. Wrong” would be a wiser use of her time than this show. I’ve bravely withstood all six episodes, which may enable me to become a member of a very elite club: The seven people on the planet, not including Portia, who will sit through the entire mess.
There isn’t a single legitimate laugh in the story of an insufferably “gaydorkable” (to repurpose a line from Fox’s “New Girl” marketing) young woman named Lizzy (Elisha Cuthbert), a single lesbian who is nonetheless trying to become a mom via artificial insemination with contributions to the effort from her roommate and straight best friend, Luke (Nick Zano).
One night at a bar, Luke meets buxom Briton Prudence (Kelly Brook), falls head over heels, they get married, she moves in, hilarity definitely does not ensue. On top of that, the marriage turns out to be a fraud; they have to get married again really fast or she’ll be deported. A marriage does happen, but I suppose I’ll let that matter of forced plot convenience remain unspoken for those brave seven people and Portia.
The laugh track isn’t so much annoying as deeply unsettling, rather like the way you feel when you pass someone on the street who has clearly become unhinged and is laughing maniacally at nothing.
There’s nothing funny about “One Big Happy,” the performances are wooden and irritating, and the setup is completely phony.