Did you catch Great News? It aired Tuesday night on NBC. It is a new comedy created by Tracy Wigfield. She was a writer and producer on “30 Rock” and a writer and co- executive producer on “The Mindy Project”. The executive producers are Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, the masterminds behind “30 Rock” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”. If you loved those shows, you will probably love this one too.
A brief synopsis of the show. Briga Heelan plays Katie, a young producer on a cable news show called “The Breakdown”. Her mother Carol, played by SCTV legend Andrea Martin, gets an internship on the show. Veteran comic actor John Michael Higgins plays Chuck, the insecure veteran anchor on the news show. He hates social media and doesn’t know what the hell the kids are talking about. He considers himself a newsman from the Walter Cronkite mode. His co-anchor Portia played by Nicole Richie is a younger woman immersed in social media. Portia and Chuck are the exact opposites of each other. The Breakdown’s executive producer is Greg played by Adam Campbell. He is a smarmy Brit who doesn’t quite believe in Katie’s producing abilities. Rounding out the cast is Horatio Sanz as Justin, another producer on the show.
The show really centers on the relationship between Carol and Katie. If you looked up the definition of helicopter parent in the dictionary, Carol’s picture would be right beside it. Her main interest in life is Katie. The mother and daughter have a loving but co-dependent relationship. Their relationship as portrayed is not antagonistic like many mother and daughter relationships are on TV; they support each other and actively like the other person. The jokes come fast and often, it has the same rhythm that “30 Rock” had. The humor might not be as absurdist, but it is silly and smart. There were many times in both episodes that aired that I laughed aloud. I was looking at the show’s schedule and they will be airing two episodes back to back each week. There are 10 episodes this season, so the season will end the last week of May. If the show continues to be as funny as the first two episodes, I hope it will be back on NBC’s schedule next fall.
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