Now there is something ya just gotta respect about Chuck Lorre who is thirty years into his illustrious television career and at this moment the proud possessor of four simultaneous hit shows replete with one particular series (The Big Bang Theory) that managed the unusual feat of jumping the shark a few seasons back and is now swimming along Galapagos style with the carnivorous little fella. Think of him as today's Quinn Martin. Last year those powers that are at the Chuck camp unearthed the series Mom, starring the priceless Allison Janney and an endearing Anna Faris of Scary Movie fame. The premise concerns an estranged mum and daughter who reconnect after years of incommunicado, however this is no ordinary mother and child reunion I assure you and if Janney's Bonnie Plunkett is mother of the year, Faris's Christy Plunkett is the daughter Freud's dreams were made of. And on this series which has been renewed for a second season those snipes and zings fly quicker than Mario Andretti's Lear jet. Bonnie and Christy have a complicated relationship but you still can't help feeling the love there - think Grey Gardens Big and Little Edie Bouvier Beale with some years skewered back and a tidier living space.
The scandalously under-appreciated Faris finally receives some just desserts time here as Christy who is ever on the quest to put the pieces of her life back together after a decade spent in drunken stupor. Mother Bonnie was once guilty of the same such shenanigans (and worse). The irony wheel keeps on turning, as Christy's daughter Violet (Sadie Calvano) follows in her mum's footsteps and ends up a pregnant high schooler - she also makes the decision in her last trimester to put her baby up for adoption, initially to the chagrin of her mother and her cannabis consuming Christian boyfriend Luke (Spencer Daniels). A watershed moment occurs when Bonnie realizes Violet is her 'do-over' baby and that Violet is now breaking the cycle that her mother commenced of seriously awful parenting. They all rekindle at a time their self-awareness kicks in and do some of their best bonding at their weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. And OK, yes it may be a rickety ride but they are surely on the right track.
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| Like Mama, like daughter Janney and Faris earning their chips. |
Allison Janney bears watching, she steps out of her comfort zone with aplomb, the erstwhile soap and dramatic series actress proves lickety split that she isn't bereft of comedy chops. And yes boys and girls there is a scene stealer here too, meet Regina Tomkins (Octavia Spencer) a fellow friend of Bill W and a methodical money manager who happens to get sentenced to three years in the big house for embezzling over three million dollars from her unsuspecting clients. Regina makes a meal out of going head to head with Bonnie, the woman she so lovingly refers to as 'scarecrow,' all the while having utmost affection for her. Through Bonnie's sneers you may find some smiles.
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| Daughter Violet is no shrinker either, Sadie Calvano and Kevin Pollak |
And don't think the drama ends in the living room - there's plenty of histrionics a'happening in the restaurant kitchen the one where Christy waits on tables; a plan B career choice from her broken hopes of becoming a psychologist. And they say don't do a certain act where you eat and you know this act I speak of while Christy may never have been privy to said admonition as she gets up close and very personal with her boss Gabriel (Nate Corddry) who just happens to be someone else's for better or for worse( but hey he only did it for the money). And then there's the cantankerous and conniving chef Rudy portrayed by French Stewart a practical pan-sexual pariah who previously and unsurprisingly had a dalliance with the oversexed Bonnie.
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| A little bitchy brew as prepared by French Stewart |
And now and again you will notice other established CBS names popping over, in one such episode its Jon Cryer. This series already boasts two awards, one being an Emmy for Allison Janney for achievements as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. And they say there's nothing like dear old mom - why not pay her a visit, she just made you your favorite - chicken soup.