The Big C

THE BIG C started this week as a Showtime series for television opposite the controversial WEEDS in the late evening, subjects for mature audiences time slot. Most viewers will have mixed feelings about this first episode, so loaded with new characters with whom we have little time to understand, all edgy, and yet all surrounded by the unifying theme of how one woman deals with being told she has Stage 4 Malignant Melanoma but who decides to not inform anyone of her diagnosis, instead going after the outrageous way of living that has always been foreign to her obsessive/compulsive teacher personality.

There are few actresses who could pull this off: Laura Linney, one of our finest actresses on the screen today, is the perfect choice for making this unbelievable character credible AND charismatic. As Cathy Jamison, she is married to a bumbling irresponsible joker Paul (Oliver Platt, again an actor in the top echelon) who is currently out of the house over some disagreement with Cathy, and is mother to naughty boy Adam (Gabriel Basso), lives across the street from a elderly curmudgeon Marlene (Phyllis Somerville) with whom Cathy finally agrees to accept and to like, is a sister to a freaky psycho brother Sean (John Benjamin Hickey), is attended by her diagnosing just-fresh-out-of-residency naive physician Dr Todd (Reid Scott), and carries on teaching a classroom with bored students, including one sassy, arrogant and overweight Andrea (Gabourey Sidibe). Life is full of surprises and they pop by so quickly that we barely can tell where the series is going. As for this viewer, though not impressed with the structure of the show, staying around for the pleasure of watching Linney and Platt will be worth it - hopefully!

Grady Harp

From the pilot I just watched, this show has an embarrassment of riches. Laura Linney is excellent as Cathy Jameson. She Plays a woman that has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and expresses a plethora of emotions. Oliver Platt as her husband is less defined and is the biggest reason I gave the show an 8, but I'll give the writers the benefit of the doubt, because an actor of his status will add tons to this role if they just give him some latitude. John Benjamin Hickey who plays Cathie's eclectic brother is also under developed but I just have a gut feeling he is going to be great. Based on these three characters the show shows great promise. I could go on about all the sub characters, but give it a chance watch the premiere and get to know them.

I happened to come across this show because of a marathon airing on Canada's movie channel and I must say this show is fabulous. Cathy a character you cannot help but fall in love with. Her character gives you hope and lets you see the lighter part of hard situation. I love how she's involved in the aspect of everyone's life and how she's such a caring woman even though she has her own problems. It shows the different emotions of various characters.

This show is well written, cannot wait to see whats in store for next season. This show will make you laugh and will make you cry. Definitely worth watching.

Contrary to what others think on this board, the feelings that Cathy goes through and what she sees are too real for me. I am diagnosed with a brain tumour and I see things, hear things and stick my fingers up to the world.... Cancer makes you see all too clearly all that life's about and what its worth living for. This prog has kept me going through my my darker days. This is a series not to be missed and I'd recommend this to anyone who wants a good laugh and a cry at the same time... Ally McBeal with cancer thrown in (Even though Billy did die of a tumour in that series too).. I would also recommend this to carers of people with cancer, cos to me its how I feel all of the time.

"The Big C" walks on the thin line. Comedy and drama, love and lack of love, sweet but in the end has to be bitter. The creators and producers have to be talented if they want to walk that way and till now they really are. Laura Linney is simply great. She always is, but now is more than ever. She makes the situations easy to be watched because the subject is complicated and can hurt a lot. But instead of suffering with it, we enjoy everything what's happening: we smile, we feel. Feeling, being touched by honest emotions, is something you don't get all days, not in shows and either in real life. "The Big C" doesn't deserve only a good chance, it deserves the fidelity you give to big shows and this is one of them. Try it and you won't regret it.