Single Parents – A Comedy for Parents and Non-Parents

Comedies are challenging as everyone’s sense of humour is so distinct.  As the name implies, Single Parents tries to appeal to the decently sized single parent segment of the population’s households.  Humourously showcasing some of the daily tribulations single parents have should also easily appeal to dual parent households.  After all, kids will be kids.

Synopsis

Airing Wednesdays at 9:30pm Eastern, with the first episode currently available on their website, ABC says Single Parents:

…follows a group of single parents as they lean on each other to help raise their 7-year-old kids and maintain some kind of personal lives outside of parenthood.

I suspect parents of all kinds can relate to that.

Trailer

When a show is just 20 minutes long (minus commercials), you are quite apt to see the entire episode in a 2 minute trailer.  However, it certainly gives you a good idea of whether or not you will like it.  This trailer includes a scene they cut from the first episode, as well as a minor cast change.  Catch it here:

Characters

The clueless buffoon, Will, is adorably ignorant about life as a single parent.  Admirably–yet to his own detriment–his sole focus has been caring for his daughter.  If his (lack of a) sex life is any indicator, he has been doing this for over five years.  <record screech>  Woah.

Thankfully, Will has Angie, Poppy, and Doug… err… Douglas to help him get out of that rut.  Between the three of them, their intentions are clear: Get a life… before you also destroy us!  Mother Angie comes across as the most well-adjusted single parent of the group, who has gladly accepted her place in the world.  Is it five o’clock yet?  Brad Garrett (from Everybody Loves Raymond) as Douglas perfectly plays the very masculine–but loving–father of twin daughters.  Unassuming mother, Poppy, is the take-no-prisoners enforcer of the trio.

Conclusion

Single Parents accomplishes the unthinkable in appealing to adults of every sort, be they single, married, with, or without children.  The first episode’s laughs are a bit stretched out and could leave viewers wanting.  However, their patience is rewarded with a laugh out loud crescendo.

Falling into the “without children” category, I still feel somewhat confident saying that Single Parents will be in regular rotation in our household’s TV watching.  The question is whether enough people will give the show a chance.