Surprise, surprise! Less than a day after Fox released the pilots for its new series The Mindy Project and Ben and Kate, NBC today put the first episode of it's hot new comedy The New Normal. After experiencing success with previewing Go On and Animal Practice during the Olympics, I guess NBC went ahead and decided to preview more of its new slate, so today they released The New Normal pilot online, and in a week, they'll be putting up the pilot for Revolution, their big new high-concept drama. For now, it's time to evaluate the first episode of this hot-topic comedy. While it has recently been shrouded in controversy for being dropped from an NBC Utah affiliate, it is still one of the hottest comedy projects this fall. The show stars Justin Bartha, Andrew Rannells, Georgia King, Ellen Barkin, NeNe Leakes, and Bebe Woods. Bartha and Rannells play David and Bryan, a committed gay couple, who are looking to expand their family to three. Enter King as Goldie, a young mother (Woods plays her young daughter Shania) looking to turn her life around and pursue her real dream of going to law school. As a result, King decides to become a surrogate for David and Bryan, much to the chagrin of her grandmother Jane, played by Barkin. Leakes plays David's assistant, Rocky. Co-written by Glee and American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy, the show definitely carries his vibe: lightning-fast pace, pop culture savvy dialogue, strong-willed characters, and nerve-pinching writing. It's got some laughs, definitely, but it's certainly not laugh-out-loud. The pilot moves very fast and it doesn't feel like it's been 25 minutes. The performances are all incredibly solid here. The immediate standouts are Rannells and Barkin, they both get pretty meaty performances here, but there are certainly hints that King and Bartha will be respectable players here as well. Woods is good, although her character's obsession with technology seems like a joke at least two years old, and Leakes is outrageous, but mostly kept in line, which is a good thing for sure. There are a couple of great zingers and awesome moments (a few come to mind: King's character's wish to be like "Julianna Margulies on The Good Wife but without the disgraced husband," the special cameo which I won't give away, most of Barkin's insults and Leake's comebacks, and Rannell's wish for "a skinny blonde baby who doesn't cry. Is that extra?'). For all of the heat about the controversial side to this show, it doesn't feel any more offensive than jokes seen on most primetime comedies. It's a very good pilot, and I'd rank it a little above The Mindy Project but lower than that other hot NBC comedy, Go On. It'll be interesting to see what path this show follows; Murphy shows always get good before they get bad, so at the very least, we should get a pretty good first season (and if the Golden Globes and Emmys shower Murphy with love like they have in the past, the series, Rannells, and Barkin could all be seeing some love this year). It's definitely worth checking out! Still not convinced? Check out the trailer below:
Evan
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