A brilliant comedy that ended before you knew you'd missed it.
Streaming on Netflix | TV-14 | 2018 | 2 Seasons
Genre: Comedy
Why I watched: My sister Olivia and my friend Taylor both recommended this show to me around the same time it started popping up on my Netflix feed. I started watching over Thanksgiving and was devastated to learn there are only two seasons of it!
You might also like: 30 Rock, obviously, on Hulu, and also The Mindy Project on Hulu. To watch a great movie about another quirky newsroom, rent Morning Glory (one of your author's favorite movies) for $3.99 on Amazon.
Since 30 Rock ended, there has been a big gaping hole in my heart and my watchlist. What could possibly fill the void? I mean, nothing, but Great News comes close. From creator Tracey Wigfield—who got her start in the writers' room for 30 Rock—comes a lovely little newsroom comedy with a fun twist. 30-something Katie (Briga Heelan) is a producer for "The Breakdown" ("The number one show in hospitals and on sinking riverboat casinos," S2.E1), and things are going along smoothly, if not brilliantly. She's got a good job, but she's not really getting any traction in her career. When her 60-year-old mom, Carol (Andrea Martin), becomes an intern for the show, everything changes.
It turns out that tiny little Carol is a force of nature. She's the only person in the office who can manage Chuck (John Michael Higgins), the pompous blowhard who co-anchors the show, and her wild schemes to cultivate friendship among the people working at "The Breakdown" actually, sort of, pay off. Carol and Katie, meanwhile, have an absolutely absurd relationship. Carol is wayyyyyy too involved in Katie's life; she's the textbook definition of a helicopter parent, and she has no sense of professional boundaries. Yet Carol often pushes Katie to take brave risks in her career that she never would have taken otherwise. The two frequently attempt to negotiate the balance between mother/daughter and co-worker/co-worker, but the truth is there's no right or normal way to have your mother as your intern.
Y'all, I haven't even mentioned one of the best parts of the show: Nicole Richie. That's right, one-half of the socialite duo from The Simple Life. (Remember that? Richie, daughter of Lionel Richie, starred next to Paris Hilton?) Richie plays Portia, the co-anchor to Chuck, and she is hilarious. Her comedic timing is perfect, and the writers give her excellent material to work with. In fact, the writing is excellent throughout the show. The humor is a perfect mix between 30 Rock and The Mindy Project, and indeed Briga Heelan's Katie reminds me of a young Liz Lemon. And speaking of Liz Lemon, did I mention Tina Fey shows up in Season 2 of Great News? Yep! Fey executive produces the show (she and Wigfield are good buddies) and plays network executive Diana St. Tropez. She's funny, of course, but mostly she does a great job of helping the rest of the wonderful cast shine.
NBC cancelled this quirky little gem after the second season, and that is too darn bad. But take heart! There is reason to believe Netflix might be considering a revival. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
Happy Streaming! Grace
