Should You Impetuously Commit To One Big Happy?

What Is This Thing?

High school pals-turned-adult housemates Luke and Lizzy always promised each other that if they hadn't had kids by the time they were thirty, they'd have them together -- which is less potentially problematic than it sounds once you know that Luke is straight and Lizzy is a lesbian. But how will their co-parenting plans change when Luke meets Brit Prudence, who's about to be deported...and decides they should spend their second date getting married in Vegas?

When Is It On?

Tuesdays at 9:30 PM on NBC.

Why Was It Made Now?

Honestly, every network (/all pop culture) needs to increase its number of stories about LGBTQ protagonists, but NBC had a gay-parent slot open since the death of The New Normal. Plus between Catastrophe and Jane The Virgin, there's non-conventional pregnancy stories are trending all over this season's new comedies.

What's Its Pedigree?

Creator Liz Feldman (who, full disclosure, is a friend of a friend) has written on 2 Broke Girls and prior to that won four Daytime Emmys as a writer on Ellen -- and speaking of Ellen DeGeneres, she's also on board as an Executive Producer. Our leads are Elisha Cuthbert (Happy Endings) as Lizzy; Nick Zano (...also of Happy Endings) as Luke; and Kelly Brook (Smallville and lots of British stuff) as Prudence.

...And?

Anchoring a sitcom with any former star of Happy Endings is a wise move, and Cuthbert is just as strong here as she was there, playing a role that's pretty much diametrically opposed to Happy's Alex: where Alex was an easygoing, dippy goof, Lizzy is a Type A control freak whose idea of splashing out and being daring is to paint an accent wall...gray. Lizzy's compulsiveness runs through both the first two episodes, from her her inability to handle integrating Prudence's just-arrived dishes into her kitchen to her complaint that Prudence's nudity around the house has forced her to protect her furniture with "vagina coasters." I wouldn't have thought of Elisha Cuthbert for the role of gay Monica Geller, but she nails it.

Though Lizzy is definitely the heart of the show, its premise rests on making her decades-long friendship with Luke believable, and Cuthbert and Zano have great chemistry. In fact, Zano's never been better: he has a real Paul Rudd quality here that I've never seen from him before.

...But?

Brook has the hardest job: she has to make Prudence spark immediately, so we buy that (a) a commitmentphobe like Luke would make the impulsive move to pursue her, and (b) also alter his current life plan of having a baby with Lizzy now. At least in these first couple of episodes, she seems to be doing that by looking great and occasionally dropping weird, cryptic details about her childhood. But so far, I identify so much with Lizzy that Prudence feels like she's encroaching not just on Luke and Lizzy's friendship but on the story and the show. Giving her a chance to be goofy in ways that don't involve total nudity will probably help.

...So?

A sitcom that's going to be mostly about a baby would have to be pretty grabby out of the gate to make me want to watch more: One Big Happy pulls this off thanks to the charm of its leads, particularly Cuthbert. Give it a shot.