Should You Tough Out Channel 4's Catastrophe?

What Is This Thing?

American Rob meets Irish Sharon by chance in a London bar when he's briefly in town on business; lots of fornication (interspersed with some enjoyable clothed socializing) ensues. A month later, when he's returned to New York and is out on a date with another woman, Sharon calls to let him know she's pregnant, and he's the father. Now what?

When Is It On?

Mondays at 10 PM BST (British Standard Time) on the UK's Channel 4.

Why Was It Made Now?

Since we all just got through a year of trendpieces on why millennials aren't having children, the only way to write a parenting story is about older people who fall ass-backwards into pregnancy and figure they better just go with it in case it's their last chance?

What's Its Pedigree?

Sharon is played by Sharon Horgan, British comedy royalty for creating, writing, and starring in Pulling, and for starring in the original British Free Agents and cult favourite The Increasingly Poor Decisions Of Todd Margaret. And Rob is Rob Delaney -- yes, the one from Twitter, but don't hold that weird claim to fame against him: he's also an actor with solid comedy-nerd credits, including Season 2 of Burning Love, and the Mad Men web spoofs MA Men. The two co-created and co-wrote Catastrophe together, and the care they took as writers to do right by their characters really shows.

...And?

There is so much I like about this show. First of all, why are the British so much better at making pilots than Americans are? The meeting between Sharon and Rob happens in seconds and makes perfect sense with a minimum of exposition. Their chemistry is obvious instantly (and the scene of them racing through their desserts on their first real date so that they can get back to his hotel/it on is an economical way of conveying it). And yet, they're both grownups, and don't have any too-ridiculous ideas about the longevity of this relationship, parting on friendly terms without anyone's even suggesting that they try to make more of their fun week together than they've already enjoyed. So the mix of fury at their (titular) reproductive catastrophe and faint hope that things actually might work out are well earned and believable. Like, when Sharon calls Rob to give him the news and he asks what she wants to do, she snarls, "I want to build a time machine out of your fucking carcass and go back and make it UN-HAPPEN." But when they agree that he'd better come back to London sooner than his work would have required, this is how she meets him at the airport.

On that question mark hangs the story (though Sharon tries to brush it off sheepishly, saying she wasn't sure Rob would remember what she looked like). And from there, as they spend this incredibly tense time together, we start to see right along with Sharon and Rob how right they might be for each other: he doesn't judge her for drinking wine after her OB/GYN gives her a confusing warning about "pre-cancer," or even for smoking a cigarette if she really wants one. When her frenemy Fran runs into her and sees her indulging in societally unapproved vices at a moment of understandable weakness, Sharon gets through the encounter as quickly as possible and, as soon as she's gone, informs Rob that she's a cunt. And when the dinner party Fran's forced on them gets uncomfortable because Rob and Fran clash over homeopathy (he's against it; she...is a homeopath), Rob leaves no doubt as to his allegiance with Sharon and his readiness to fight for her and for their baby. By the time the episode ends with him declaring "I think you should marry me" and she grumbles her agreement with a secret smile to herself, I totally buy that all the steps of the story brought them to this point in an unconventional yet also uncontrived way.

Plus, it's just funny. I feel like I can tell how much Horgan and Delaney really delight (and delight in) each other. They may play crusty jerks -- whose specific common brand of crust is what will keep them together forever -- but these writer-performers are also having so much fun playing through this story that their fun is infectious.

...But?

I have to think there are pushing-forty people who've spent a lot of time, effort, money, and anguish on their fertility challenges who wouldn't find the "whoops, we're surprise-pregnant because we didn't use condoms, DUH-HOY" premise a lot less charming than I did. I mean, if I'm being totally honest, I didn't find that aspect of the story that charming. I'm sure the decision was made to put an accidental baby at the centre of the story because some would say that, otherwise, the leads wouldn't have any real reason to try to hard to be together. As a childless person, though, and on behalf of childless people: instant, undeniable attraction between adults does happen, and does complicate lives, if the adults in question don't live in the same city and/or country. Particularly if said adults are getting to be middle-aged-ish, they might be more likely to seriously consider pursuing the relationship even with distance as a factor -- and if that were what pushed Rob and Sharon together rather than the soon-to-be-living result of their own contraceptive carelessness, it would still work.

But then, I'm arguing for a show that doesn't actually exist. And this one is pretty good so far.

...So?

It's not going to do my pocketbook any favours, but I guess I'm going to be flying to England every week so I never miss an episode.