Raising Hope

My Name Is Earl-verse continues with this brilliant warm-hearted show about a family dealing with the unexpected challenge of an unplanned baby that comes into their lives. You will see many callbacks and similarities to past shows combined into 4 seasons of good-natured hilarity.

The cast is terrific with leads Lucas Neff (Jimmy) and Shannon Woodward (Sabrina) being the will they won't they couple. Martha Plimpton (Virginia) and Garret Dillahunt (Burt) as the young simple uneducated parents to Lucas' Jimmy Chance character. We get flashbacks showing Burt and Virginia's early life raising a young Jimmy and the mistakes teenage parents make.

A shout-out needs to go to the late Cloris Leachman who played Maw Maw; the grandmother who raised Virginia as her own daughter but who now suffers from the onset of dementia. She plays this character with pure joy and hilarity with many of the shows comedic moments coming from her. I will say I'm sure the ridiculous Cancel Culture would come for this show over some whiny "my feeling are hurt on behalf of those suffering from dementia" garbage if this show was made today.

This, like My Name is Earl, was a show cut too soon from TV-land and was never able to fully conclude the way it should have in 3 or 4 more seasons. As long as it is able to will be put in my rotating lineup of comedy shows that I run through.

I have to admit, from the previews, I wasn't planning on watching this show. I was simply setting up my DVR to record another Fox show and figured, why not record this one too since I have been a fan of Martha Plimpton since the Goonies. I am so glad I did.

I LOVE THIS SHOW!!!! The show is hilarious. I go from laughing out loud, thinking, "I can't believe they did that" to feeling warm and fuzzy. Garret Dillahunt is absolutely hilarious, Lucas Neff is adorable, and I love watching Martha Plimpton's character capture both a roughness and sweetness at the same time. She is brilliant. I find myself watching the episodes twice and laughing out loud each time. Looks like a great show and I hope it continues to stay as funny as the first two episodes have been.

The writers of Raising Hope must have lived in or visited South Carolina, because the characters are not too far off from the folks one would encounter at the local Wal-Mart in these parts. In terms of wit and timing, this show is dead on. The characters may seem pathetic upon first view, but by the end of the episode one is witness to the depth of their humanity. This is the first of the new shows that is on my static viewing schedule.

Cloris Leachman has a surprising role for such a legacy actor, but that is what makes the show brilliant. Her appearances are like the exclamation point in a sentence...though her appearance is brief, it is what elevates the scene from a smile to a laugh out loud. Looking forward to the next episode.

I have to be completely honest...i didn't want to invest any more of my precious time watching another boring sitcom.. Was i surprised! The premise though a bit far fetched, ala the serial killer mother who is executed... and someone actually naming their child "Princess Beyonce" I was absolutely entertained. The writing is fun and imaginative, the characters are complex and real at the same time. I can bet we have all known one family in our neighborhood just like this. Dysfunctional and slightly psychotic and yet like a train wreck you cant look away. The actors are delightful and i find myself quoting lines the next day to my kids and husband. Oh god I'm dysfunctional and psychotic....oh well :-)

The reason I didn't notice is that I was too busy laughing...out loud...A LOT! There is not a sour note or a bad performance in the all too short four season run of this gem. Garret Dillahunt, usually cast as the resident baddie, is fantastic as the patriarch of the Chance family, even managing to one up Brian Cranston from Malcolm In The Middle, and that's no easy feat! Watch it... YOU'LL LOVE IT!