Long Story Short is a Netflix adult animated comedy-drama created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg, his first new animated series since the acclaimed BoJack Horseman. Trading Hollywood satire for something more intimate, the show is a warm, melancholy, and very funny portrait of a single family told across the sweep of its members' entire lives.
The series follows the Schwooper family, jumping freely and non-chronologically through the decades, from childhood and adolescence to marriage, parenthood, and old age, so that a character might be a squabbling kid in one scene and a weary adult in the next. This restless time-hopping structure lets the show explore how families carry their history with them, how old wounds and inside jokes echo across generations, and how small moments accumulate into a life. Its voice cast includes Abbi Jacobson, Ben Feldman, Lisa Edelstein, Paul Reiser, and Nicole Byer.
Rooted in Bob-Waksberg's own Jewish American upbringing, Long Story Short earned strong reviews for balancing sharp comedy with genuine emotional depth, the same alchemy that made his previous work resonate. It is streaming on Netflix.
Legendary bad-boy and all-around ace philanderer Charlie Sheen stars in CBS's hit sitcom "Two-and-a-Half Men," inspiring most loyal viewers to wonder how much the show and its situation actually challenge the million-dollar jokester really to act. Sheen plays, just coincidentally, of course, Charlie, a profligate composer living comfortably on the beach in Malibu thanks to his singular gift for making-up catchy commercial jingles. Charlie's steadfast devotion to "The Playboy Philosophy" meets serious challenges when his frighteningly repressed, skin-crawlingly anxious, and obnoxiously too-preppy chiropractor brother moves into the beach house, bringing his adolescent son with him"”both refugees from a Southern California tract-house divorce. Perfectly cast for his role in "Two-and-a-Half Men," John Cryer brilliantly recreates Alan's tics, quirks, and peccadilloes; and Angus T. Jones, television's consummate anti-Disney superstar, makes puberty and cluelessness look (almost) vaguely adorable. Brilliant, insightful, incisive, snarky and sardonic, frequently edgy, deliciously allusive writing keeps the show fresh and relevant"”lots of running jokes and familiar motifs have developed, but nothing ever seems even vaguely old"¦least of all, Charlie Sheen.
Of course, nerds, geeks, dorks, techies, and intellectuals of all advanced-degree descriptions deserve love and affection"”if only their lips could form the monosyllables, "Will you go out with me?" CBS's hit "The Big Bang Theory" explores this and other mysteries of the universe, putting a lab-coated coterie of Cal-Tech scientists directly across the hall from Penny, premier Pasadena waitress and aspiring actress. "The Big Bang Thoery" proves once again that excruciating self-consciousness and social ineptitude, unfortunately, are always funny; and GED holders may derive extra satisfaction from Penny's frequent mastery of difficult situations on the strength of common sense and hard experience. In its first seasons, "The Big Bang Theory" looked frighteningly like "My Boys" minus Wrigley Field, but the characters and show have evolved, and individual actors and actresses have put their distinctive stamps on their roles. Especially Kaylee Cuoco has found the right balance between ingenuousness and homegrown girl power in her portrayal of Penny. Audiences have noticed, giving "The Big Bang Theory" their nod for a People's Choice Award in 2010. At the 2011 Golden Globe Awards, relatively unheralded, deliciously diffident Jim Parsons took home a handsome statuette for his performance as physicist Dr. Sheldon Cooper, an immensely lovable uber-nerd supreme. And in January, 2011, giving "The Big Bang Theory" the ultimate vote of confidence, CBS extended the show's contract for another three seasons.
Episode by episode, loyal viewers of "How I Met Your Mother" first forget and then cease caring that the stories supposedly are told as flashbacks from some uncertain future when a couple of the characters actually have children. Ted, ostensibly the main character, described by the pitchmen as "architect and eternal romantic, feels the urgency of finding the same true love his best friend Marshall has found with his wife Lily. Marshall is a little dorky, Lily is lovably flaky, and Robin"”Ted's premier love interest"”is gorgeous but better left among the cell numbers of "just friends." Oddball character Barney is the comic centerpiece of the show. Neil Patrick Harris plays Barney"”need anyone say more? Barney, as fiercely opinionated as he is devoted to designer suits for all occasions, specializes in impromptu development of foolproof schemes for meeting and making conquest of women. "How I Met Your Mother" contributes significantly to CBS's domination of Monday night tube, because approximately twenty million viewers agree with the Yahoo! reviewer who wrote, "Good writing and quirky characters played by likeable actors, this one consistently entertains me. NPH has created a classic character in Barney. And with the fabulous Alyson Hannigan on board *sighs*, I just can't stop watching."
