Searching for a new show to try last week while my husband was out of town (we watch a lot of shows together), I stumbled onto The Letdown,
an Australian comedy now on Netflix. Though I am well past the babies,
breastfeeding, and diapers stage of life, I found this show about a
struggling new mother both hilarious and heartwarming.
Alison
Bell plays Audrey, a new mom taking a break from her career to stay
home and care for her baby, while her husband Jeremy, played by Duncan
Fellows, works hard to support their new family. Audrey wants to be a
good mom (or mum, rather) but worries that she is failing miserably at
it. Her daughter won't sleep through the night, Audrey and Jeremy can't
bear to let her "cry it out," and Audrey is seriously sleep-deprived and
misses her old life...but of course, feels guilty about that. She joins
a new mother's group, where at first she feels like everyone else is
doing a better job than she is at motherhood. Attempts to have a night
out, meet up with old work friends, and even take on a temporary job all
have disastrous - and hilarious - results.
I expected
to find this half-hour comedy mildly amusing (perhaps because my own
sons are in their 20's now, so I am well past Audrey's stage of life),
but right from the start, it was very, very funny and had me laughing
out loud. Any parent will be able to relate to Audrey and Jeremy's
struggles to figure out how they fit into their new roles, though the
show also deals with other issues as well, including marriage, aging
parents, and work lives. The scenes with the new mother's group are
especially good, as those characters gradually become a part of Audrey's
life. The laughs were expected, but I also grew to really care about
Audrey and found each new episode even more warm and engaging. I just
finished season 1 today, and it looks like they are set up for a second
season - I certainly hope so!
The Letdown is currently available on Netflix.
Not
really a trailer, but here is a brief scene from the show, from one of
the mother's group meetings, where they were asked to bring a parenting
book they recommend, and Audrey misunderstood (sleep deprivation!) and
brought Frankenstein:
No comments:
Post a Comment