Neil Patrick Harris stars in the latest Netflix comedy, "Uncoupled."By: Christopher James
When Emily in Paris first premiered, The New Yorker coined the term “ambient TV” to describe the show’s mass appeal, despite a critical drubbing and the memefication of its protagonist by the public. It’s a show made specifically for people to not concentrate on. It’s just looney and lighthearted enough to make audiences feel good. However, once you peel back just one layer of the surface, you can’t help but laugh AT it, rather than with it.
Darren Star, who gave us both Sex and the City and Emily in Paris, returns to Netflix for his new gay-centric comedy Uncoupled. It’s co-created by fellow lover of froth, Jeffrey Richman (Modern Family, Desperate Housewives). It seems like equality means the LGBTQ+ community also needs its own piece of “ambient TV.” Uncoupled is slick, watchable and fun. It’s also maddening, featuring characters that seemed to have been born yesterday on some fun house version of Manhattan. Much like Emily in Paris, the inanity is part of the charm.
If you turn your brain off, you can float down the lazy river of Uncoupled’s charms. For those that watch with a more discerning eye, they will either make fun of the proceedings or be turned off by some of the off-brand sharp notes that don’t hit quite right.
After 17 years, Michael finds himself dumped by his boyfriend, Colin (Tuc Watkins).When we meet Michael Lawson (Neil Patrick Harris), he seems to have the perfect life. He lives in a gorgeous New York apartment with his sexy, rugged boyfriend of seventeen years, Colin (Tuc Watkins). For Colin’s 50th birthday, Michael has planned a romantic dinner followed by a lavish surprise party. The only hitch: Colin breaks up with Michael as he opens the door to the surprise party. Throughout the show’s eight episode first season, Michael tries to put himself back on the dating scene, navigate heartbreak and find out what he truly wants from a relationship. He also complains a lot, like a lot.
All Neil Patrick Harris has to do is flash his pearly whites and six pack abs to endear himself to his audience. Each one of those abs are needed, as Colin often comes off as insufferable and whiny. Particularly in the first few episodes, Michael spends much of his time being prudish, paranoid and mopey. It’s understandable given the breakup - the show barely gives us a glimpse into why Colin was so unhappy that he would implode both their lives with nary a signal. However, it’s not dramatically compelling. Plus, Harris never does a good enough job sketching out who Michael was pre-breakup to make us care about what happens to him throughout the series. When the show becomes more pratfall focused later in the season, like when Michael and his friends go on a drunken ski weekend, Harris and the show finally find their footing.
Marica Gay Harden is on the other side of the "First Wives Club" coin as a woman who gets dumped by her rich husband.
The show is much more fun and wild around the fringes, particularly with certain supporting characters. As with most things, Marcia Gay Harden snatches the MVP trophy of nearly every scene. Her character, Claire, is an obscenely wealthy and difficult woman who Michael pursues as a real estate client. What’s his in? She’s going through a hard divorce that seems just as abrupt as his breakup. Marcia Gay Harden approaches each scene with a unpredictable gusto, scathing one moment and throwing caution to the wind in others. It’s terrific fun.
In fact, Uncoupled works best when it’s a dopey, scripted version of Million Dollar Listing: New York. As Michael’s business partner, Suzanne, Tisha Campbell wrings laughs out of some of the cringiest jokes. Yes, she’s a cliche - a single gal in New York City who is too attached to her son and punchlines.
Every single person needs their group of colorful friends, and Michael is no different. For advice, companionship and nights on the town, he turns to philandering local news anchor Billy (Emerson Brooks) and sad-sack art dealer Stanley (Brooks Ashmanskas). Both have some fun with their one-note characters, but never feel like real people who have a shared history with Michael. In particular, Ashmanskas does an admirable job trying to add depth to Stanley, the group’s Eeyore, but is betrayed by the shallow writing at every turn.
Central to the show’s issues is Tuc Watkins’ portrayal of Colin. It’s never clear what he wants or why he leaves Michael. If the show was laser focused with Michael’s journey to loving himself, this could be forgivable. However, Colin remains a figure, both physically and narratively. If Michael isn’t incessantly talking about him, Colin pops up to remind us that he’s a person we just can’t figure out. Even if this is the point of the characterization, Watkins never gives us a glimpse into the character’s interiority. It’s baffling and infuriating.
Michael leans on his friends, Stanley and Billy, for emotional support and nights out on the town.Something seems to have turned within Darren Star. Sex in the City is obviously a cultural defining megahit, with a footprint that launched the premium comedy landscape as we know it. While that was fresh and provocative, Uncoupled seems pedestrian even when it’s being a little naughty. Sure, it’s fun to see Neil Patrick Harris struggle to take a good looking dick pic. However, it doesn’t feel super attuned to the life of gay men. In one episode, Michael chides a younger man for being on prep and not using condoms. Intergenerational divides between gay men have been dramatized in other shows much better than this. A generous reading of Uncoupled would call it quaint. A less generous read would be that it is out of step.
With all that said, the eight half hour episodes go down incredibly easy. Without even thinking, one could accidentally binge over the course of an afternoon while working. Uncoupled is maddening, old-fashioned, cringe and lazy, but boy is it watchable. Chalk another point for “ambient TV.” C
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