Anyone who has ever been diagnosed with cancer knows there is little funny about the subject. And to be a young suburban housewife and a mother as well is, well let's say downright depressing to talk about such a burden. But Cathy Jamison manages to bring a lighter aspect to the Big C even as she deals with her immature husband. Laura Linney (Mystic River, Love Actually) plays Catherine Jamison who is a high school teacher diagnosed with melanoma. Not one to simply lie down and die Cathy infuses plenty of humor, sometimes dark humor, into her life and bolsters her family's outlook as well. Her husband Paul, played by Oliver Platt (Year One, Frost/Nixon) apparently has a child like vision of his life and approaches the situation with his wife as if it simply does not exist. Cathy also has a son and a brother with whom she tries to improve relationships with, not knowing if she will be around much longer. Humor is found in the rocky relationships between family and friends who handle her serious illness in different manners and the last thing Cathy needs is squabbling relatives when she has her own worries. It's all handled with a lightness that the writers find even in trying times.

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