Leanne Morgan’s Netflix sitcom Leanne didn’t reinvent the form when it debuted last year. Her collaboration with Chuck Lorre took some time to get up to speed, but it had a solid foundation of a good cast, chemistry between Morgan and her co-star Kristen Johnston, and a good mix of funny and poignant moments. The series returns for a second season, and it continues to be a steadily funny show.
LEANNE SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: We see Leanne Murphy (Leanne Morgan) eating a hearty breakfast. Her younger sister Carol (Kristen Johnston) stares at her in amazement. “No to be indelicate, but you are housing that food like you’re headed to the electric chair,” Carol tells her.
The Gist: Leanne is chowing down because she’s turning 59 the next day and is going to start a new diet. That’s when Carol sits down and tells her big sister the bad news: She’s been miscounting birthdays, and she’ll actually be turning 60, not 59. Leanne is so distressed by the news, she slaps Carol.
Leanne doesn’t have time to digest that news, because Margaret (Celia Weston), Leanne and Carol’s mother, comes barreling in on her scooter. Apparently, the sisters’ dad, John (Blake Clark), has been out of the house for awhile, and isn’t answering his phone. The sisters find out why he’s not answering his phone when Margaret calls it and her purse starts ringing.
The three of them start driving around to all of John’s haunts: Costco, the dump, and the post office. They then go to the VFW hall, where Carol finds out she’s an “eleven” there because it’s full of men over 80. They find him at the dollar store, where he’s been cursing out having to use the self-checkout and spending a long time trying to scan a pack of socks. As they drive their parents back home, they see that Margaret and John’s kitchen is on fire; apparently one of them left a pot of beans going on the stove and didn’t turn it off before leaving.
Leanne and Carol decide that their parents can’t live on their own anymore. Leanne would rather they move in with her and Carol, but Carol thinks a nice senior community — away from them — is a better idea. They manage in each of their own way to convince their parents to consider it, but as Leanne drives them to a tour, she envisions her and Carol living out their golden years at a similar place and turns around.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Created by Leanne Morgan, Chuck Lorre and Susan McMartin, Leanne has the feel of Mom, another Lorre sitcom.
Our Take: As we said during this show’s first season, Leanne had some advantages that put it ahead of the game, especially compared to other Lorre multicams. It had an experienced cast, which included Ryan Stiles as Leanne’s ex-husband Bill, and some fantastic chemistry between Morgan and Johnston as sisters who love each other despite their different temperaments. The second season boasts all of that, and a storyline that should generate both laughs and some serious moments.
It certainly feels like in Season 2, Leanne is going to be spending a lot of time trying to figure out what her own life is going to look like in the face of her boyfriend Andrew (Tim Daly), an FBI agent, pursuing the “Subaru Strangler” in the Pacific Northwest. But while she’s doing that, she’s going to be dealing with Margaret and John grumpily living in her house, and somehow managing yet another late-midlife crisis by Bill.
But what has been this show’s strength is how Morgan manages to ride all of these emotions in a way that incorporates pieces of her Southern-fried standup persona with an ability to grasp the poignant moments in a way that’s surprising, given her relative lack of acting experience. She and Johnston continue to be a fine comedic duo, and now that we’ll be seeing veterans like Weston and Clark more often, the show should start to find its character-driven comedic stride.
Performance Worth Watching: We’ll give this to both Morgan and Johnston, because their chemistry reminds us of sitcom duos like Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams. Really.
Parting Shot: Leanne and Carol decide to go to a place where they’ll be really popular: The VFW hall.
Sleeper Star: Graham Rogers returns as Leanne and Bill’s son Tyler, and Hannah Pilkes returns as their daughter Josie. Jayma Mays also returns as Mary. Among the guest stars this season will be Tyne Daly, Jaime Pressly, and Lanie Wilson.
Most Pilot-y Line: When Margaret and John spends the night in Carol’s room, Margaret sees something in Carol’s nightstand that leads her to say, “Gotta start praying harder for that girl.”
Our Call: STREAM IT. Leanne isn’t rewriting any sitcom rules; it’s just a funny and warm traditional multicam with two stars that have good comedic chemistry and lots of character-driven humor.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
