Show:The New Normal

• Airtime: Tues., 9:30/8:30c on NBC
• Rating: TV-14 D, L, S (suggestive dialogue, coarse language and sexual situations)
• Genre: Comedy
• Cast: Justin Bartha, Andrew Rannells, Georgia King, Bebe Wood, NeNe Leakes, Ellen Barkin
• Ok for Ages: 16+
• Official Site:  http://www.nbc.com/the-new-normal/ 
• Parents Should Know: Nothing is off-limits in this comedy from Glee creator Ryan Murphy, including race, sexuality, age, and body size. Because the story centers on a gay couple who hire a surrogate to carry their baby, there are plenty of jokes about body parts, sperm, eggs, and sex. The surrogate’s grandmother is an unapologetic bigot, so expect a river of offensive and off-color comments, like referring to gay men as “salami smokers” who live in “fudge factories.” She also insults a former Girl Scout colleague for trying to “Jew down” cookie prices, and insinuates that pre-teens are having sex and need condoms. Sexual scenes include both gay and straight couples in bed and/or kissing. The first few minutes of the pilot show a scantily-clad, cleavage-heavy woman grinding on top of an apparently nude man (who’s cheating on his wife). Language includes words like “damn” and “whore,” as well as insults towards overweight people, ethnic people, etc.

Review: Now that gay characters are becoming more mainstream on shows like Glee and Modern Family, it makes sense that a show centered on a gay couple would surface. The New Normal stars Justin Bartha and Andrew Rannells as David and Bryan, a committed gay couple who are looking for a surrogate to carry a baby for them.

They find just that person in Goldie (Georgia King), a sweet young woman with an adorable daughter named Shania (Bebe Wood). Goldie is trying to detach from her cheating husband Clay (Jayson Blair) and offensive grandmother Jane (Ellen Barkin) who raised her, so she and Shania leave Ohio behind and drive to California.

It’s probably not a smart thing to impulsively leave your home and drive across the country with no money, no job and nowhere to live — especially with a child in tow who depends on you. But hey, it works for Goldie, because she soon crosses paths with David and Bryan, who hire her as their surrogate, set her and Shania up in their guest house, and vow to support her in her dream to become a lawyer and give her daughter a better life. It’s all very magical in a “this would never happen in real life” kind of way.

That’s the sweet side of The New Normal, but this show has two personalities. The dark side comes to us via Jane, who is so vile and offensive she makes Glee‘s Sue Sylvester look like Mother Teresa. Jane looks down on and insults everyone who’s not like her — which is everyone, thank goodness. She’s over-the-top racist, homophobic, politically incorrect, and insulting. Barkin pulls out all the stops, making Jane just the sort of character people will talk about over the water cooler the next day. She’d better pace herself, though, or she’ll run out of crude epithets to lob at people.

Reality TV vet NeNe Leakes, who rose to fame on The Real Housewives of Atlanta, is amazingly comical as Bryan’s office assistant Rocky. Maybe it’s because her character is probably not far from her real personality — someone who embraces her uniqueness and has no problem with the fact that she’s “half-giraffe, half-drag queen.”

Truly, the cast doesn’t get any better. Rannells is famed for his star-making turn on Broadway in The Book of Mormon (even if he does look distractingly like Seth MacFarlane), and I love seeing Justin Bartha break out of his usual sidekick roles in movies like The Hangover and National Treasure. I like their chemistry on The New Normal. Their personalities are so opposite that it makes them fun to watch.

Bartha’s David is the “gay guy who doesn’t act gay.” Instead, he drinks beer and watches football on the couch with his big dog beside him. Rannells’ Bryan acts overtly gay and worries about fitting into his skinny jeans and recording Say Yes to the Dress. Davis is pragmatic and serene; Bryan is fussy and emotional. Together, they trade quips with all the snappiness of Lorelai and Rory on Gilmore Girls.

The New Normal is still finding its footing, but the show has grown on me after just a few episodes. But make no mistake, The New Normal pushes the boundaries of what you can and cannot do on network TV. Remember, this is NBC, not FX or HBO. And even though it’s rated TV-14, I’m really glad my two teens, ages 15 and 18, weren’t watching with me. I probably would have changed the channel. It’s that cringe-worthy.

I get what executive producer Ryan Murphy is trying to do here. He’s taking his other show Glee a step further by making a gay couple the focus and stepping up the Sue Sylvester character into a horribly offensive grandmother. He’s drawing awareness to the fact that a family doesn’t have to be a heterosexual married couple with 2.5 kids. And also to the fact that vile people exist, and instead of coping with it in silence, maybe it’s better to face it head on (I’m taking that right out of an encounter David and Bryan have with a homophobic person in a department store).

All of this is good, but I just hope people won’t find The New Normal so in-your-face offensive that they won’t watch. It’s already been banned by a Mormon church-owned NBC affiliate in Utah, which, of course, gave it tons of press. But the show really does bring up some important issues and shake people out of their doldrums. As Bryan says while sitting on a park bench and looking around at all the families, “Abnormal IS the new normal.”

I have a feeling The New Normal will probably be around for a while. There may be people who won’t watch it, but more people who do. And the gifs and memes are already burning a hole in Tumblr’s server.