[TV] Threesome: Season 1

It's always tricky to determine when exactly it's safe to review a new British television show since their series (as opposed to "season") format doens't exactly have a clear number of episodes in mind. Sometimes a full series can be 6 episodes. Sometimes it goes on for 13. Other cases involve only three episodes, but each is like a mini-movie in itself.

And thus I end up forgetting to go back to a show for review purposes, hence this very late review for the comedy Threesome, which is a show that I enjoy quite a lot.

And posting these reviews during my Technicolor Musings weekly spot here on the Geeky Guide is a bit hit or miss for me, I have to admit. I like highlighting it as an LGBT-related show since it does have a central gay character. But the joy of the series is that it's not about trying to jam a version gay culture down your throat all the time.

At the end of the day it's a sitcom that has a gay character in a lead role, and that's it. It's not a show because he's gay - the brilliance is that he's treated no differently than anyone else.

Besides, it's the craziness of the straight people in this story that we really ought to worry about.


Synopsis: Threesome is the first comedy commissioned by Comedy Central UK and was created by Tom MacRae. And in case you're wondering, the ever- catchy song in the title sequence is "Work It Out" by Esser.

The show centers around three nearly-30 friends who are as close as close can be (and maybe a bit more than they should). We have Alice (Amy Huberman) and her live-in boyfriend Mitch (Stephen Wight) along with their gay best friend Richie (Emun Elliott). Yes, he lives with them, too. And as the show begins, one particularly wild party night complete with drugs and alcohol somehow ends up with a most unlikely threesome between them. And when they come to their senses the next day, it's only a matter of time before they realize that Alice is pregnant.

The first season explores a few central challenges for the character. First, they're not quite sure who got Amy pregnant. Second, the addition of a baby to their little family unit of sorts also means they all swear to clean up their acts and live proper lives in preparation for the baby. And of course we have the various mothers of the characters and where they stand in all this - and yes, their opinion can matter.

This first series has quite a number of endearing moments. First you have Mitch, who for the most part is an idiot but turns out to have impressive skills in the kitchen and in terms of potential child-rearing. It's rather adorable when he gets into doting father mode without overly feminizing his role. There's the slow evolution of Alice from just being a wild and crazy party girl to someone who is truly preparing to be a mother. And even Richie has his share of growing up to do, especially in the relationship department.

We can't talk about Richie's relationships without talking about Dave the Builder, as played by the practically ageless and adorable Adam Garcia. Let's face it, his character is good-looking, responsible and can already handle a kid of his own? Yeah, you know he's been written as a nearly perfect potential boyfriend, assuming that Richie finally gets his act together.

But I can't be too angry at Richie - he does like LEGOs after all.

The show is quite the wild ride and you'll find yourself going back and forth along the emotional spectrum. At its core, you have three individuals who were having the time of their lives and now made to face the reality of resposibility and thus the need to grow up. And they don't exactly drag their feet or whine about all this. they just take the plunge head first and go totally full throttle. So we know they're going to make some pretty ridiculous mistakes, but in the end it still works out.

If I were to have a complaint about this show, it would be the fact that 7 episodes is way too short for a series! We need more Threesome! And stop making us wait too long between series runs!

But beyond that, I give the show's first day out an entertaining 4 nearly slapstick moments that the cast find themselves in out of a possible 5.