FALL TV EXTRAVAGANZA!!!

SUBURGATORY

*** (out of ****)

 

Yes, the creators of Suburgatory have seen Mean Girls before. If we can move past that for one second, and sometimes they make that tough, we’re left with what Suburgatory offers that isn’t Mean Girls “inspired”, for lack of a better term. To my complete shock and horror, what you’re left with is actually pretty good AND good for pretty much all ages. The protagonist is a high school girl, which means the target demographic is teenage girls, but the laughs here come from enough different places that it should be good for any age, gender, or grade in high school. Tessa Altman is whisked from her hardcore gangsta’ New York lifestyle and dropped into the middle of suburbia, when her single dad finds a box of condoms in her drawer (stay with me…it gets better). She’s not a hardcore gangsta’, but she is one of those chicks who isn’t cool, but stands apart from the cool people, thinking about how much they suck, and in the end, believes herself to be the cool one (a little hack, sure, but stay with me…it gets better). We are then taken on a tour of all of the tropes of suburbia, from the neighbors to the high school students. The only thing Mean Girls gave us that that we don’t get here is the jock with a heart of gold that our heroine instantly falls for. It’s hard to say anything about this show without bringing up Mean Girls, but a lot of that is because the show’s voice, which is strong now, and will get better, is its true success, and slightly more alternative and sneaky than you would expect. It’s a tone that’s perfect for television, and as the show finds itself, get ready for a show that isn’t like anything, and in a couple of years, there will be shows that are like Suburgatory.

TOMORROW: HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN!!!

-Ryan Haley