The Bottom Line
Details
- Premiere airs September 14, 2011, at 10:30 p.m. EST on NBC; subsequent episodes air Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m.
- Stars Hank Azaria, Kathryn Hahn, Anthony Head, Natasha Leggero, Al Madrigal, Mo Mandel, Joe Lo Truglio
- Developed for American television by John Enbom
Review
Still, the main focus is on main characters Alex (Hank Azaria) and Helen (Kathryn Hahn), who both work at a high-powered public-relations firm, a definite high-stress, time-consuming career. Both of them are also newly single and not coping with it very well. Alex is recently divorced and has an unfortunate tendency to burst into tears at any mention of the kids he barely gets to see anymore (even hearing a song his kids like causes the waterworks to start up). Helen is still reeling from the sudden death of her fiancé a year earlier, filling her apartment with sappy romantic pictures of the two of them and spending her evenings alone, drinking wine and crying.
So when the two of them end up in bed together, it’s not something either one is prepared to deal with. It’s refreshing to see a show begin with the central couple already having slept together, rather than introduce a tedious “will they or won’t they?” dynamic. And Azaria and Hahn have a nice awkward chemistry, giving the sense that these people are way too damaged to know how to behave normally around each other, but also clearly have a sense of connection and attraction that they can’t turn off. The problem is that Alex and Helen are going to have to either end up in a relationship or completely discontinue their hook-ups, and each of those options would kind of destroy the appealing balance between the characters.
For now, though, it’s fun to watch them try to hide their attraction and mutual secrets while around their co-workers, who are an amusing collection of misfits. Anthony Head reprises his role from the British series as the duo’s crass, overbearing boss, and he clearly has a lot of fun with it. The State alum Joe Lo Truglio is nicely creepy as the night security guard who lets Alex spend nights in his office rather than going home, and Natasha Leggero provides some nice sarcastic rejoinders that undercut any potential sentimentality. Most importantly, Hahn and Azaria bring genuine emotion to their characters (Hahn in particular has had a lot of over-the-top roles in the past, so it’s nice to see her more grounded). I’m interested in seeing where their relationship is heading; I just don’t know if it’ll remain interesting for 22 episodes (or more).
