Uncoupled

As another middle-aged gay man writing a review of this, I'm on the boat of this show is just not very good. I so wanted to love it. I watched the whole season and I'm happy that this is not my social circle in any way, shape or form. It's all super shallow characters putting on the facade of caring and emotion. It's just one stereotype after another parading through scenes. It's surreptitiously judgmental and cruel in the guise of sarcasm and cutesy snark. A cast of great actors are utterly let down and left in a wasteland of a vapid script and storyline. And I didn't mention the female characters because they're such an afterthought and underwritten in this show that it's a disservice to the great Tisha Campbell and Marcia Gay Harden to even bring it up. Why bother when the writers didn't?

Let me start by saying that a gay rom-com shouldn't and can't be "all things to all people" who try to identify with it, any more than "The Dick Van Dyke Show" represents every straight American couple who happens to write for a hit TV show and lives in New Rochelle. I tire of people who say "well, this isn't me." It's not supposed to be you, nor could it reflect every viewer watching it. I enjoyed the peek into the life of NYC real estate agents as much as I did seeing the main characters struggle with their identities. At first, it sported too many cliches, but the cast was likable and the story kept moving forward. I stayed with it, and the final two episodes really paid off. I found myself laughing and crying, which was unexpected. Try not to pin a heavy agenda on this (or any TV show), and just enjoy a mainstream gay rom-com that might not tick off all the boxes, but still provides plenty of entertainment in the comedy-drama dept.

I thought it was cute & funny. It's just a show though! No way I expected this is an actual representation of gay men in NY. No different than sex and the city, GOT, stranger things, dead to me, better call Saul or ANY other popular tv show...I recognize it's just tv. If you're expecting this to be real life or if you are turned off by same sex relationships, just don't watch it. If you are looking for a mindless show to give you a good chuckle, give it a try.

My Review - Uncoupled My Rating. 7/10 Streaming on Netflix

I enjoyed this new series especially its charismatic and talented star Neil Patrick Harris who plays Michael a mature age Gay man who's partner Colin of 17 years ( Tuc Watkins) suddenly announces on the eve of his 50th Birthday party that he wants to end their relationship and moves out of their apartment.

It's so refreshing to see a series that normalises the issues that we in same sex marriages or relationships experience which of course are the same as heterosexual relationships especially divorce or the ending of longterm partnerships when we all need the support of friends an family.

The Central character Michael (Neil Patrick Harris) now alone and in shock after his well ordered predictable lifestyle comes crashing down find's himself angry and resentful reluctantly entering the single world again with the help of some fun and interesting friends like his zany co worker Suzanne ( Tisha Campbell) , Stanley ( Brooks Ashmanskas) his chubby and wittily acerbic longterm friend and Billy (Emerson Brooks ) a narcissistic but lovable buddy .

I also liked Marcia Gay Harden who plays Claire a super wealthy Manhattan matron who like Michael finds herself alone after her husband leaves her for a younger woman.

The similarities to Sex and the City are obvious in this Gay rom com 8 part series . I noticed that before I read that the series co creator Darren Star also created Sex and the City . Of course it's setting is New York and the characters instead of being about Sisterhood is more of a Bromance but the humorous situations and sentiments are similar as we get to know some fun characters.

This series is far better than the dreadful sequel to Sex and the City "And Just Like That".

The other creator of this series Jeffrey Richman also has a fine pedigree of comedy writing with shows like Modern Family ,Frasier and Desperate Housewives.

I've read a few derogatory comments already but don't agree with many of them especially those accusing the writers of promoting gay stereotypes or the portrayal of white upper class privilege . Please , we're not talking about Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky here it's a light comedy about likeable characters in everyday situations that occur in all friendships the fact that they're affluent is irrelevant.

For generations GLBTQI film and television audiences have watched countless Heterosexual lifestyle domestic and comedy series like Sex and the City and movies and we enjoy them .

I think it's refreshing and important to now have the same focus on our GLBTQI lifestyles whether they are duplicates of the privileged affluent characters in Sex and the City or not ?

Michael could be Carrie Bradshaw , Billy could be Samantha , Stanley could be Miranda etc and no one complained of self indulgent white privilege or the slightly overt sexual content in Sex and the City While not perfect I found Uncoupled fun , light and entertaining and 5 or so hours of relief from the usual diet of murder and mayhem so freely available on television today.

No confirmation yet but Series 2 of Uncoupled is apparently on the cards and I'll look forward to it.

Best thing about this series: the stunning aerials of new York City.

Worst: most of the rest.

Seems so unrealistic and listening to Michael whine for eight episodes was a bit much, despite his probably having good cause. And although I like Harris, it was hard to believe all those young hot men would instantly fall into his arms (and bed.)

Most endearing character was Suzanne; least was Claire. Character who should have had a bigger part: Jack. Smaller part: Claire.

Was too hard to relate to this sub-section of society (rich people not doing much to make the world a better place.)