During one of my regular sweeps of the Internet for information of interest to single parents, I spotted an item about a new “single parent comedy” (sounds like an oxymoron to me) called “The New Adventures of Old Christine.” Has anyone seen this yet? Apparently it premiered on March 13. 2006.
The show, which stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, is summarized at www.tv.com as follows:
The New Adventures of Old Christine is a new comedy about a 35-year-old divorced mom (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Seinfeld),who runs a 30-minute female-only gym with Ali (Amy Farrington) and tries to keep pace with everyone around her. That includes the judgmental stay-at-home moms at her son’s(Trevor Gagnon) private school…her ex-husband, Richard
(Clark Gregg, The West Wing) (and) his new girlfiend (Emily Rutherfurd, The Ellen Show), whose name is also Christine. Old Christine’s brother, Matthew (Hamish Linklater, Fantastic Four) lives with her.
Here’s a quote from a review of the show:
(Louis-Dreyfus) plays the titular character, a neurotic single mom forced to move on following her divorce when her ex-husband hooks up with a younger woman, also named Christine.
I’m going to check it out, but I have my doubts about how funny a show about single parenting can be and still be realistic. I guess I shouldn’t be so skeptical, but my initial assumption is that the show must portray the single Mom as spunky and adventurous and ready to take on the world, with frequently hilarious (?) results.
Not only that, but a couple of things from these descriptions bother me. First, why must the single Mom be “neurotic”? What’s funny about that? “Neurotic” is defined as “of, relating to, constituting, or affected with neurosis.” And “neurosis” is defined as
a mental and emotional disorder that affects only part of the personality, is accompanied by a less distorted perception of reality than in a psychosis, does not result in disturbance of the use of language, and is accompanied by various physical, physiological, and mental disturbances (as visceral symptoms, anxieties, or phobias).
Doesn’t that crack you up just reading it?
Second, why (according to the tv.com summary) does this single Mom “try to keep pace with everyone around her…includ(ing) the judgmental stay-at-home moms”? One person can’t do what two people can. And why are the “stay-at-home” (and presumably married) Moms judging her? I mean, she’s a single parent, for Pete’s sake! Anyway, she shouldn’t care if they’re judging her; that’s their problem.
Maybe it’s just my mood today. I usually do have a sense of humor. I should lighten up; it’s just a TV show, after all. Maybe it does manage to be both accurate and entertaining.
It’s just that I’m having trouble picturing myself chuckling at a neurotic single mother who’s trying to be two people and trying to prove to other Moms that she’s a good mother. I’m also not comfortable with the idea that the show may misrepresent single parenthood as “fun.” (Well, is that the word you’d use to describe it?)
I know I sound crabby; sorry, it’s probably PMS. So I won’t jump to any conclusions about the show until I watch it this Monday, the 10th. Maybe my problem is that I need a little comedy break. “The New Adventures of Old Christine” may be just the ticket!
We’ll see.