(courtesy IMP Awards)
If I am going to be completely honest, when I saw the trailer for Leanne, I was not overly impressed.
It came across as one of those tired, laugh track-heavy efforts with lacklustre plotting, punchline jokes that stick out like a sore, barely-funny thumb, and no sense of the comedic richness that comes with golden members of the sitcom genre like Frasier, Grace and Frankie, Ted Lasso or Cheers.
Snobby? Maybe but then I want my sitcoms to be clever with their comedic storytelling and to not only tell some really engaging stories but to do it with characters I actually care about.
Then I watched the show, and freed from the slightly misleading trappings of the trailer, I was able to appreciate the show for the light, bright creature it is, full of characters that you warm to with dialogue that, in the hands of the two main leads in the sitcom ring with real warmth and authenticity and sparkling humour.
Leanne, as it turns out, is the little Netflix sitcom that could, and while, no, it isn’t necessarily up with their storied greats of the genre, it is nonetheless a quiet lovely joy that is more than worth watching, if only because it’s not quite as predictable as you might think.
Premised on the very relatable idea of a woman being dumped by her husband for a younger model, Leanne stars stand-up comedian and actress Leanne Morgan as the titular character who is sent an email (!!) one day by her husband of 33 years, Bill (Ryan Stiles) that he is leaving her for his dentist.
Leanne, as you might expect, is desperately hurt and blindsided by this sudden in the fortunes of her marriage, and rather wonderfully for a genre that is often guilty of downplaying very heavy material in favour of a good laugh, is allowed to act as someone who has had the emotional rug well and truly pulled out from under her.
Even when things settle down later in the 16-episode run, and Leanne gets on with her life, Bill, while allowed back in the fold somewhat for family events with children Tyler (Graham Rogers) and Josie (Hannah Pilkes), Leanne’s sassy sister Carol (Kirsten Johnston is absolutely sparkling form) and their parents Mama Margaret (Celia Weston) and Daddy John (Blake Clark), it is clear that Bill is veru much on the outer.
There’s no sprinkling of magic sitcom dust to make everything better and while the nuanced narrative affords a certain rapprochement, it is clear that what Bill has rent asunder can never be fixed and that life as Bill and Leanne once knew it is well and truly over.
And that’s just one example about how much attention Leanne pays to its characters.
Sure the laugh track feels clunky and some of the jokes belaboured, but what really makes Leanne come alive, and made this long-time, fussy sitcom viewer keep paying attention, is how much you come to love pretty much everyone in the cast.
Leanne Morgan is particular is given so much nuanced ground to cover as the eponymous spurned wife.
She is allowed time in the first few episodes to be hurt and lost; she doesn’t simply and conveniently bounce back from the worst moment of her life, and it’s this willingness for Leanne, especially, to be a real person, a rarity in sitcoms that love heightened humanity and abhor too much emotional honesty, that gives so much unexpected emotional heft and vibrant relatability to the series.
As Leanne grieves and gets angry and accepts and finds that maybe new love can be hers – here’s looking at you Tim Daly as handsomely sweet and thoughtful FBI agent Andrew – Leanne never feels the need to rush things along.
Even when it appears Leanne is turning a corner and everything broken is getting fixed in a whole new way, she’s given the time to have doubts, to fret and to wonder what on earth is going on.
Surprisingly for a sitcom that looks and acts like a classic run-of-the-mill network sitcom, Leanne has patience with its main characters, and even with characters like Carol, with whom Leanne has a feisty but close and loving bond.
In fact, it’s these two characters that are the beating heart of the show, with both Morgan and Johnston spinning gold out of even the most banal of dialogue; while Leanne falls prey to some predictable humour and some obviously set-up gags, each actress brings real wit and vivacious comedic chops to every line they utter.
They also bring some emotional depth and resonance to their parts, and while Tyler, Josie et. al are often there for the set-up gags and not much more, these two actresses are given a lot of ground to cover and nuance to explore in a storyline that values its characters, even those who may not move much beyond cardboard cutout.
Watching Leanne is like nestling into a voluminously big and wonderful hug, and in an age where so many shows darkly challenge us to get heavily and rigourously invested – not a bad thing and hugely rewarding in many cases but comfortingly escapist is it often not – having a well-made sitcom like this to lose yourself in, and where you can feel like you’re with friends you really, REALLY like, is a rare and unexpected gift.
It occupies a really residenced spot these days in the sitcom hierarchy; it’s neither classically perfect like the examples given earlier, nor goofy and hilariously OTT like Unstable or Loot, nor servicably basic like a thousand sitcoms with long runs but no real impact, but it is a heartfelt slice of life that actually works because it loves its characters.
And at the end of the day that is why we tune into watch sitcoms, or any TV show really; we want to feel like we’re with people who matter to use and Leanne well and truly delivers on that front, giving you a very funny family who is definitely good with the gags, but who’s also allowed not to be when the story demands, and it is this comfort with the hilarious and the emotional meaningful, and a willingness to let the storytelling take its time, that elevates this lovely little sitcom into something you will love watching, especially on those days when life is demanding far too much from you and you simply want to lose yourself in something hilariously good.
Leanne streams on Netflix.