Hiccups

I waited along time for Hiccups to arrive and now that it's here, I'm loving every minute of it! Brent Butt is a genius and has transplanted the magic of Corner Gas to urban Vancouver in Hiccups. The writing is superb and the characters are wonderful. The premise of the series is that Millie Upton (Nancy Robertson)a children's writer with anger management issues finds therapy in Stan Dirko (Brent Butt), a life coach who with Millie as his only client fumbles his way to setting her on the right path. Surrounding these two are Joyce Haddison (Laura Soltis), Millie's straight-laced editor and chief, Taylor Rhymes(David Ingram), Millie's slime ball agent who seems more interested in picking up women than Millie's career, Crystal Braywood (Emily Perkins) the ditsy, know-it-all receptionist and Anna Dirko (Paula Rivera), Stan's loving and devoted, way to hot for him wife. Together, they provide the perfect ensemble that sets this series apart from so many of the other recent sitcoms. Hiccups gets two thumbs up!

I'm Canadian. I understand references to Canadian culture whether they are topical or not. I was a fan of Brent Butt's stand up comedy long before his sitcom days and I was a fan of Corner Gas, especially during the first few years. Then the humour became stale and forced. Hiccups, in a sense, cuts out the middle man. It starts off being stale and forced without first being funny. I've seen only two episodes and I have no plans to see more. The show has a long way to go before it can be considered mediocre let alone good.

The problem with this show lies in the writing. The actors are talented but what can anyone can do with a lame premise and lame lines? Because of the status that Butt and Robertson enjoy in Canada this sitcom may be back next year but, judged on merit and not reputation, it needs to be terminated as soon as possible.

I just found this show and I am so glad I did. I'm a fan of Corner Gas so I thought I would give Hiccups a try. I wasn't hooked right away. Robertson's character Millie was pretty outrageous, which at first struck me as too much and out of place...but then by the second episode I found her character endearing and hilariously oddball. Robertson and Brent Butt are great together in the show. All the other characters start to fill out as the show progresses and bring more subtle, but added flavor to it. Robertson is amazing in this and her outrageousness really becomes a natural, dynamic aspect of the series. Her facial expressions, body language, and line delivery are comic gold!

Guys this show isn't perfect. Nobody should've thought it would live up to corner gas. But it's not by any means a bad show either. It's not hilarious but it's not worth cursing at either. It has some lovable characters and some funny moments so it's not worth getting so angry at. Overall a pretty good show which, because of its short time on the air, is worth watching.

A perfect vehicle for Robertson. You never know what she will do next. And what she does is funny. Some characters are lame like the receptionist. Brett Butt plays the straight man who tries to tame Robertson.