RAW HILARITY
Crudely put, Amazon’s ‘Catastrophe’ is a wonderful sitcom
“CATASTROPHE” IS nothing of the sort. This Brit import is one of the freshest and funniest new shows you’ll see all summer.
It’s also the latest confirmation that some of the best TV these days isn’t on traditional TV.
There’s just one important warning for potential viewers. Often in language and sometimes in visuals, “Catastrophe” gets pretty crude.
That’s worth noting because at heart it’s a romantic comedy that some rom-com fans will find too graphic for their enjoyment.
Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney star as Sharon Morris and Rob Norris, an Irish woman and American ad exec who meet in a London bar and enjoy a frenzied weekend hookup that ends with Sharon pregnant.
They decide to get married, stunning both their families and requiring them, among other things, to get to know each other.
This process is made more complicated, and much funnier, by the fact that neither Sharon nor Rob has any filters. They blurt out whatever they’re thinking, about each other or each other’s friends.
That’s a quirky bunch, including Carrie Fisher as Rob’s mum.
Yet at the same time Sharon and Rob have subtle, dry wits that don’t seem driven by the need to set up the next punch line.
“You’ll have to take out an insurance policy on me,” says Sharon. “But not too big. I don’t want you to murder me for the money.”
Like all good sitcom characters, they sometimes drive us nuts. But we fall for them both and would like very much for this long shot to come in.