The Book of Rannells: The New Normal: Season 1, Episode 1 – “Pilot” (2012)

I still wince a little when I watch this show, because it could’ve been a lot better than it was.  As it is, it’s uneven – sometimes cute, sometimes awkward, sometimes grating, sometimes magnificent.  Still, watching it again reminds of how much potential it really had.

Bryan shocks his partner David by coming home one day and announcing he wants them to have a baby.  The two guys mull over the issue, especially David, even as they begin moving forward and making plans.  As they’re in the process of figuring out how to create a family, fate brings them into contact with Goldie, a young single mother from Ohio who’s ready to change her and her daughter’s life, which she’d be able to do with the money she’d get from being a surrogate for David and Bryan.  Matters get complicated when Jane, Goldie’s bigoted nana, arrives on the scene spouting homophobic venom, but the little clan forges ahead.

I already did a write-up of this show as a whole, and many of the issues I pegged there hold particularly true in the pilot.  There’s an off-kilter tone as the show veers from Jane’s pointedly-cruel offensiveness to other moments so sweet they could induce a toothache.  Also, there’s some general sloppiness.  Bryan’s “let’s have kids!” epiphany goes from 0 to 60 in about two seconds, and it’s unclear how long the guys spend working towards things before they meet Goldie and co. – there are a few indicators that a decent length of time is going by, but at other times, it feels like no more than a few days.

But there’s great stuff, too, of both the humorous and the heartening variety.  I like Bryan and David’s sweet chemistry together, especially the scenes of them talking cozily in bed, and there are some pretty funny one-liners.  Justin Bartha is terrific as solid, good-guy David, and Georgia King brings a soft earnestness to Goldie.

As Bryan, Andrew Rannells is already at work breathing much more life into this character than he might have had.  Bryan has a moderate case of pilot characterization and hasn’t quite settled into who he’s going to be yet – the episode leans fairly hard into his materialistic/frivolous side, with things like thinking he can order up “a skinny blond child who never cries.”  Not that Bryan can’t be materialistic or frivolous – because he is, certainly – but the pilot turns the dial a little too far in that direction.

But even here, Rannells is mining Bryan for all he’s worth.  He plays the sillier stuff to perfection – I find that he has a talent for selling utterly-ridiculous lines with complete sincerity, and in this episode, he pulls that off with the excellent phrase “womb terrorist” and the confession, “I faint at the sight of vaginas; they’re like tarantula faces.”  He plays Bryan’s vanity and shallowness as well as his heart and sensitivity, allowing room for Bryan to be all of that.  Watching as his face as he imagines his child calling him “daddy” is a genuine pleasure.

Recommend?

In General – A cautious maybe.  I feel like, if you go in knowing it’s uneven, you can still appreciate it for its truly-good parts.

Andrew Rannells – Yes.  Rannells does a great job here, where Bryan’s characterization is still a little wonky, and this is one instance where I’ll jump ahead a bit and I say I know it gets even better from here.

Warnings

Language (including homophobic/racist insults,) sexual content, drinking/smoking, and thematic elements.