Earlier this year, Max Mutchnick and David Kohan brought a classic sensibility of the sitcoms of heyday to streamer Hulu (Disney+ here in Australia) with Mid Century Modern. The Will & Grace creators maintained a sense of nostalgia with the multi-camera format and live audience participation, whilst updating the humour to include a more modern frame of mind; apparently we can drop the “c word” to riotous laughter now.
I mention this because Leanne, the latest laugher on Netflix, whilst decidedly less profane than what Nathan Lane and the late Linda Lavin were dropping in the aforementioned Mid Century Modern, follows suit in that adopts the same temperament of the 90s/early 2000s sitcom space, with mostly safe laughs, exaggerated performances and a wholesome mentality. It’s very Reba coded (the six-season strong vehicle for country singer Reba McEntire), and not just because it’s eponymously titled around a southern comedienne, the effortlessly charming Leanne Morgan.
A mixture of Lucille Ball, Catherine Tate and Reese Witherspoon, Morgan very much fits a classic sitcom mold, that being the comedy star who has a vehicle built around their humourous brand (think Seinfeld, Ellen, Roseanne, etc). Whilst such a structure isn’t always steady (not even John Mulaney could manage the set-up), it’s somewhat fool-proof, and with co-creator Chuck Lorre on hand (the man behind such long-lasting projects as Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, and Grace Under Fire) it’s a safe bet that it has enough serviceable charm to find some footing amongst a sea of elevated, sophisticated titles that revel in nuance.
Whilst many of the jokes are either easily telegraphed or not overly laugh-out-loud funny, Morgan has the type of charisma that sells them beyond their worth. She isn’t straining to tell the joke; and, ultimately, so much of what she says is funny because of her Southern accent, where she has an almost-musical manner to how she annunciates. And the show needs to be funnier than its set-up – newly single mature woman navigates her altered life – because it’s all very familiar, right down to the ensemble cast that surrounds her; bumbling ex-husband (Ryan Stiles), opposing children (Hannah Pikes as her slightly wild daughter and Graham Rogers as the more wholesome son), goofy parental figures (Blake Clark and Celia Weston), nosy neighbour (Jayma Mays), and the protective, looser cannon sister (the always reliable Kristen Johnson).
Leanne won’t necessarily grab viewers from the get-go, and young audiences may not vibe with a show that takes pride in its middle-aged humour (there’s decent mileage out of the awkwardness of sex at a certain age), but it also hasn’t necessarily been designed for a demographic that specifically watch content whilst scrolling on their phone. Leanne isn’t a show you need to pay attention to, per se, but it’s a breezy watch for an audience that grew up on the type of homely set and PG-rated conflict it indulges in. And, it can’t be said enough, that Morgan is so gracefully funny that she easily gets you to invest in her comedic plight – simplistic it may be.
In the world of the classic sitcom, time has always been its best friend, as most shows need a little time to find both their feet and their audience, and Leanne being gifted an 16-episode order (the first 8 were previewed for media) further plays into its throwback disposition. Whether it’s Morgan’s wile or that the show reminds me of a simpler time of televisual viewing, there’s something inherently appealing about Leanne as a show, however conventional it may be.
THREE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
All 16 episodes of Leanne are now available to stream on Netflix.
