BIG BEA STING
Looking for life’s answers in new Hulu sitcom ‘This Way Up’
T HE old saying: “It looks good on paper, but . . .” definitely applies to “This Way Up,” a new six-episode sitcom premiering Wednesday on Hulu after debuting last month on Channel 4 in the UK.
The comedy is from popular Irish comedienne Aisling Bea, who also stars in the lead role. It boasts an A-list supporting cast in Sharon Horgan (“Catastrophe”), Tobias Menzies (“The
Crown,” “The Terror”), Indira Varma (“Patrick Melrose,” “Game of Thrones”) and Aasif Mandvi (“The Daily Show”).
But somehow it just doesn’t add up to a must-watch series. It’s perfectly fine — and, at times, very funny — but for the most part it’s a bit aimless, meandering and in search of a cohesive core. That’s fine if you’re a “show about nothing” a la “Seinfeld,” but that’s a high bar to reach — and “This Way Up” doesn’t quite get there. Bea, who some might recognize from 2018’s “Netflix Comedy Lineup,” plays the high-strung Irish-born Aine (pronounced “Onya”) who, when we first meet her, is being checked out of a rehab facility by her loving, concerned older sister, Shona (Horgan), following a nervous breakdown. A flash-forward takes us four months into the future; Aine seems to have made a nice recovery and is teaching English as a second language, bonding with her students who adore her. But she’s spending just a little too much time with Shona, who’s dating good-natured Vish (Mandvi). He wants Shona to move in with him and she’s resisting while undertaking a new female empowerment business model with her coworker, Charlotte (Varma). Aine is a lonely, lost soul who camouflages her insecurities under an armor of self-deprecating humor, particularly after meeting the stern, humorless Richard (Menzies), a Brit who’s inherited his teenaged Frenchborn son, Etienne (Dorian Grover), from his dead ex-wife. Aine is tasked with teaching English to the shy, withdrawn 12-year-old.
“This Way Up” bills itself as a “comedy about moving on,” but not a whole lot happens, at least in the first three episodes. The actors are all pleasant enough and have a nice on-screen chemistry. Bea, who reminds me of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” star Rachel Brosnahan, has spot-on comedic timing, thanks to her standup experience, and she can fire off a line and hit her target with laser-like precision. The episodes, around 23 minutes apiece, fly by rather quickly. So that’s a plus.
Overall, though, there’s nothing too memorable about “This Way Up.” It’s a pleasant diversion if you’re looking for something to binge quickly but, like a summer rain shower, it will be here and gone before you know it.