‘Here and Now’ a showy, weird family drama mix
When HBO does “a family drama,” viewers can be assured it’s no “7th Heaven.”
And in the case of “Here and Now” (9 p.m. Sunday), from “Six Feet Under” and “True Blood” showrunner Alan Ball, it’s pretty much what viewers of “Six Feet Under” would expect minus some of that show’s early dark humor.
Instead of pretty white people with problems, “Here and Now” introduces pretty diverse people with problems. And bad choices — never forget all the bad choices characters make on an Alan Ball series.
There is some enjoyment to be had in “Here and Now,” but it’s another premium TV drama — think “Transparent” — that exists in such a specific, rarefied upper-middle class, liberal environment that its characters and their situations may not be recognizable to many viewers.
“Here and Now,” set in Portland, Ore., and ripe for “Portlandia” spoofing if that show hadn’t already filmed its final season, is the kind of ludicrously, intentionally oddball show where a 17-year-old loses her virginity to a hunky model while she wears a rubber horse mask throughout intercourse.
Tim Robbins and Holly Hunter play the parents, Greg and Audrey Bayer-Boatwright, but in the premiere episode the focus is mostly on their kids: Duc (Raymond Lee), adopted from Vietnam; Ashley (Jerrika Hinton), adopted from Liberia and Ramon (Daniel Zovatto), adopted from Columbia. There’s also their one biological child, Kristen (Sosie Bacon). Except for Ramon, they’re mostly an unlikable lot.
In the premiere, the kids talk about how their mother adopted them to advertise “how progressive she was,” and later they attend a 60th birthday party for their philosophy professor father who is best known for an ethical defense of hedonism (no wonder he regularly sees a prostitute). So, yes, “Here and Now” is the second prime-time show in recent years to embrace conversation about philosophy, but it does so in a way that’s far more ponderous than the NBC comedy “The Good Place.”
Still, there’s enough going on in “Here and Now” that it can’t be entirely dismissed due to predictable self-seriousness.
Ramon, in particular, proves to be an interesting character — his budding relationship with barista Henry (Andy Bean) offers a rare oasis of warm, grounded scenes in the show — and Ramon has an intriguing problem: He starts having visions of the number 11-11 and later finds there’s a connection between his visions — his mother thinks they are hallucinations and worries he’s schizophrenic — and a psychiatrist (Peter Macdissi), whose Muslim family “Here and Now” also spends time with, proving more fresh and intriguing than the Bayer-Boatwright clan.
Interconnections thread
throughout “Here and Now” along with a fair amount of psychobabble mostly related to Greg’s existential grief about the state of the world and his own aging. The show also takes up seemingly every issue imaginable, from racial discrimination and gender issues to a gender fluid, possibly transgender Muslim teen. That’s a lot. At times, “Here and Now” is exhausting.
And yet, some of the characters, particularly Ramon and the Muslim family, are fascinating enough for the time being, despite how annoying so many other elements of the show turn out to be.
‘Our Cartoon President’
Anyone not exhausted by the presidential news cycle might find enjoyment in Showtime’s animated “Our Cartoon President” (8 p.m. Sunday), executive produced by Stephen Colbert. Anyone? Anyone?
The series, a purported behind-the-scenes look at the Trump administration, has its intermittent funny moments, and the character designs of the people who populate Trump’s cabinet are entertaining.
But the story that’s grafted onto the first episode — Trump has to find an anniversary gift for Melania — is sitcom-trite and reminiscent of the old Comedy Central series “That’s My Bush,” an equally meh sendup of sitcom tropes and the George W. Bush White House.
There’s certainly humor to be mined from any political administration, and this one in particular, but it goes down easier in small doses on late-night comedy series. Who needs to devote a whole half-hour to a reminder of our current state of affairs, especially with a show that rarely justifies its running time?
Kept/canceled
The current season of ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” will be its last. Netflix’s "Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” returning for its second season March 30, will end after a third season.
Channel surfing
Pittsburgher Alison Sahner competes on “Jeopardy!” (7 p.m. Friday, WPXITV). … Comcast subscribers can access NBC’s Olympics coverage by saying “Olympics” into their X1 voice remote for access to many features including 50 virtual channels that highlight the best moments of each day’s competition.