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'The New Normal': Six things to know about NBC's new comedy

by Tanner Stransky

The pilot for NBC’s new Ryan Murphy comedy The New Normal had a preview back in August during the Olympics, and that half hour also re-aired Monday night. But Tuesday night, the second episode airs and will give viewers an idea of where the show — which follows gay couple Bryan (Andrew Rannells) and David (Justin Bartha) as they attempt to start a family via a down-on-her-luck surrogate Goldie (Georgia King) — is going to be headed this season. But besides that, what else should you know about The New Normal? Read on for six insights into the new comedy.


1. The New Normal is loosely based on creator Ryan Murphy’s real life quest to start a family with his husband, David Miller. Also there’s some Glee influence…sort of. “It’s like if Kurt and Blaine were grown-up and married and thinking about having a kid,” Murphy — who created Glee — told EW, referring to the Fox dramedy’s beloved gay teen couple. “I’ve never really done anything autobiographical, but I find it’s really interesting.” Adds Rannells, who plays Bryan, the character based on Murphy: “This is a pretty lazy actor role for me, in that the character is loosely based on Ryan Murphy. After the first time I met Ryan and we got to sit down and talk, we both realized that we have a very similar sense of humor. We have a lot of the same interests.”


2. The comedy is getting compared to seminal shows like All in the Family. There’s no Archie Bunker, exactly, but The New Normal does have stripes of the show that made the character famous. “A few comparisons have been draw, very flatteringly, to All in the Family, in the sense that that was a half-hour comedy that was not afraid to tackle political issues and things that you might find on a drama,” Rannells says. “It’s not just a left-sided view of this gay couple and how great it is to be a gay parent.” The comparisons are spot-on, too, as Murphy credits Family as one of his favorite shows. “Growing up the shows I loved most were All in the Family and the Mary Tyler Moore show,” Murphy says. “[The New Normal is] a pastiche of that tone.”


3. The show’s detractors are actually represented in…the show itself. One Million Moms came out against The New Normal, blasting it for exposing families “to the decay of morals and values, and the sanctity of marriage,” while an NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City announced on Aug. 24 that they won’t be airing the show because it’s “inappropriate.” “Ellen [Barkin]‘s character, Jane, she represents where a lot of the country is in terms of having resistance to gay marriage and gay parenting,” explains Rannells, “and we get to show all of that.” King echoes Rannell’s sentiments. “Those people who are against it right now might actually be pleasantly surprised about how lots of different viewpoints and opinions are actually in the show. That’s what’s so great — it explores everybody’s ideas and thoughts.”


4. The New Normal is about more than just gay people and parenting — it’s about a new kind of family. “The New Normal does not refer to homosexuality,” Bartha explains. “It is just a mixed family. There’s a single mother on this show, there’s a single grandmother.” It’s about “everyone’s life,” says co-creator Ali Adler. “In my family, there’s two moms and two houses and two kids.” Adds Murphy: “At the end of the day it’s not about being gay or straight, it’s about how you navigate having children. And it has the world’s worst in-law played by Ellen Barkin.”


5. And speaking of Barkin, she will likely be the show’s scene stealer, alongside The Real Housewives of Atlanta‘s Nene Leakes. They — Barkin as Georgia’s homophobic, racist grandmother and Leakes as Bryan’s smart-mouthed assistant Rocky — certainly are behind the camera. “If NeNe wasn’t already on a reality show, we could make a reality show of the behind-the-scenes of The New Normal,” Bartha says. “Her and Ellen are hilarious! You have these two people coming from extremely different backgrounds — it’s kind of our show.”


6. Star Justin Bartha has a personal connection to the show’s premise: his gay brother. “My only brother is gay, and he didn’t come out until later in his life,” Bartha says. “I love him very much, so there’s that.” But Bartha accepted the role to take a stand a make a point, too. “There’s also the fact that it’s still a social issue in our country,” he says, as a way to explain his passion for the show. “I think it’s baffling. It’s something that is confusing to me.” Adds Bartha: “I’ve never gotten such a positive response to anything that I’ve done, and I’ve been lucky to be a part of things that are beloved.”


Tanner on Twitter: @EWTanStransky

http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/09/11/the-new-normal-nbc-comedy/

五星好评，12年的时候看见新闻说Ryan Murphy出了新剧，gay加代孕母亲的故事。当时就想说留着再看，结果一留，留到了17年。刚看完，完全无法想象这是一个12年的剧，所有的剧情放到17年绝对不过时，在我看来反而会比12年更受欢迎。两个主角之间感情也和谐的要命。一出现矛盾，就I love you. and I love you too. 就解决了，这就是我最爱的点，为什么看个电视剧还要强行看别人的坎坷。难道生活还不够坎坷？
我一个真傻白甜爱好者。
而且剧中关于各种问题的讨论真的是挺棒的。人物设定也很好。女主也没有因为童年的一个天真的梦想，真的去无头苍蝇的一样努力做律师。而是现实的去做更适合自己的东西。
如果这个剧是在16年或者17年开始。我相信一定不会如此匆忙的就结束了。虽然停在这就不错了，但是结尾还是略显匆忙。我就猜到了孩子一定会在精心准备的婚礼上生，然后再通过一个契机找神父证婚满足男主的梦想。
全剧最爱的一个梗就是
honey, you know you can not return a baby to barneys right. 一句话解释了两个人的性格，这句台词太妙了。
希望有更多这样的剧出现吧。

BTW
我觉得Bryan超级帅，真的是傲娇两个字成精，他的眼睛多美啊。一看心都化了。完全能理解为什么David可以在小事上无条件包容Bryan，这双眼睛一看，心全软了好么。
说他不好看的，请你们多看。

另Bryan得设定跟MF的Cameron一样特别的drama，但是我就是吃Bryan drama的这一套，看起来不尴尬。觉得他drama的点都是正常的。但是相反Cam在第四季第五季的时候真的是drama的让人害怕。

坐在电脑前，看NEW NORMAL不是很想笑，就是有一点点悲哀，我不知道这种悲哀是不是一种油然而生的感觉，却依然期待故事里的情节能真的发生。

很好看，攻受分明的角色分配，物质无忧的角色设计，不必担心生存问题的前提下，只有孩子的事真的是个事，每个人打情骂俏，每个人没心没肺，每个人无论经历多少疼痛，依然觉得明天会是美好的，这是一种普世的价值观么？或者，我们无限期待的，也不过是过上普通人的生活，被人接受，在大街上和自己喜欢的人，牵手，亲吻，结婚，生活。因为如此的遥远，所以就显得那么的美丽。

现在已经是第六集了，我很高兴每周都有这样一天，沉浸在这样一份不需要太多心机，不需要太多压力的电视剧，二十分钟，挺好，挺舒服，希望有一天，我也能有这样的机会，和我喜欢的男人，一起生活。一起要个孩子，呼吸，吃喝，睡觉，上厕所，争吵。

当平凡都变得奢侈，微笑似乎更加华丽。

     大概是因为大热喜剧《摩登家庭》里的同性伴侣——米奇和卡梅隆——博得了观众的厚爱，口碑、奖项和收视率样样不差，于是今秋一下子出了两部主打同性关系的喜剧：CBS的Partners（直弯好基友）和NBC的The New Normal（新常态）。

    Partners的主角是一对发小基友，Michael Urie饰演的同志Louis和David Krumholts饰演的直男Joe自小便是死党，如今共同经营一家建筑事务所。Joe刚和珠宝设计师女友Ali（Sophia Bush饰）订婚，Louis也和男友Wyatt（Brandon Routh饰）感情稳定。但Louis和Ali对于自己不能完全拥有Joe这一事实都耿耿于怀，剧集便在这条主线上展开。Partners宣传语中的“四个人三对伴”就精准定位了剧集的基础。

    Partners的主创是《威尔和格蕾丝（Will and Grace）》的主创David Kohan和Max Mutchnick，两人在现实中也是一弯一直，并且是多年密友并且一同经营着制片公司，所以该剧算是再现了两位主创的人生经历。同时FOX公司1995年的同名喜剧也有着类似的设定，根据维基百科的解释，剧集主创均是这部老剧的粉丝。

    The New Normal的主要内容是一对生活在洛杉，事业有成的同性伴侣Bryan（Andrew Rannells饰）和David（Justin Bartha饰）决定要一个小孩，选中了单身母亲Goldie（Georgia King饰）作为代孕母亲，Goldie也借着这个机会带着女儿Shania（Bebe Wood饰）脱离了原来混乱的生活。Goldie保守反同的外婆Jane Forrest（Ellen Barkin 饰）则极力反对Goldie的这一决定。The New Normal的主创是大名鼎鼎的Ryan Murphy，《欢乐合唱团（Glee）》和《美国恐怖故事（American Horror Story）》均出自他手。

    目前看来，The New Normal的媒体反馈不错，也已经获得了整季预定。 Partners的收视则略高于The New Normal，最新一集以571万观众小胜The New Normal的486万。

    不光是美国观众，在我个人看来，Partners的观赏性也略强于The New Normal，原因有二： 一是主演Michael Urie，他就是《丑女贝蒂（Ugly Betty）》中张牙舞爪的Marc啊！作为当年《丑女贝蒂》中我最爱的角色，Partners在我眼中自然先得了三分先机。在新剧中Michael饰演的Louis延续了Marc的表演风格，浑身上下都贱气十足放光芒，一个人就抢走了全剧的风头。二是剧集节奏紧凑段子密集，虽然常有段子让你觉得太过老旧，但快速的节奏总能带着观众嘻嘻哈哈往前跑。 相比之下The New Normal则有点拖沓，有一集竟然整集歌颂奥巴马。两厢对比，Partners有熟脸的演员和轻松的故事，自然更容易讨喜。

    但The New Normal在媒体上收获了更多好评，主创Ryan Murphy的功力也不可小窥。一如在《欢乐合唱团》中大力为小众、边缘人物唱赞歌，The New Normal也不忘这种温情加搞笑的方法，把目光透射到同志伴侣生活中的喜怒哀乐，一如剧集名称，向大众展示另一种不同但也正常的生活方式。在剧集立意上，The New Normal的确把Partners甩出了好远，收获媒体好评和整季预定也不意外。

     两剧各有千秋，但落到观赏性上，却都还欠了一点火候。Partners绞尽脑汁用各种段子挠观众胳肢窝显得用力过猛，The New Normal则分分钟为同志群体当发言人高声疾呼同志也是正常人未免也用力过猛。大概是被《摩登家庭》精致无比的编剧和温暖的内核大幅提升了口味，或者是《打工姐妹花（2 Broke Girls）》的无良三俗笑话拉低了底线，今秋的这两部新喜剧在我看来都还欠缺了一点火候。要是Partners能更深入地挖掘一下角色的感情，在段子上稍微再加点新意，或者The New Normal能轻轻放下为同志立言的架子，来点更俗辣的笑料，都不失为一部精彩客观的剧集。

    或者说这些话为时过早了，毕竟剧集都刚开始，希望正如我们喜欢说的：好戏还在后头呢。