The New Normal, Ryan Murphy’s latest creation, is having a successful first season so far and just yesterday was renewed for a full season. Here are three reasons as to why you should watch continue watching it.
- Remember way back during the first season of Glee when the characters were funny and engaging? That’s what this show reminds me of – the heyday of Glee when continuity existed and the comedy was spot-on. The New Normal has that same quirkiness to it. It has humour that relies on smart dialogue, not just physical gags. The show is funny, but not your typical laugh-track funny.
- The show just recently got picked up for a full season, and knowing the success of all the TV shows Ryan Murphy has created, Nip/Tuck, American Horror Story and of course Glee, it’s safe to assume that The New Normal will be sticking around. Start watching now so that later you can smugly tell your friends that you were watching and supporting it from the beginning.
- Like the show title says, it’s about making what used to be considered strange into the normal. This is the first TV show (to my knowledge and many Google searches) to have a gay couple as its main characters on network television, and not just part of the supporting cast as in previous shows. TV has come a long way from when it used to be an absolute taboo to even mention gay people, let alone have a character who was gay. Now, some of the most celebrated characters are gay, like Blaine and Kurt from Glee, who were able to show their first kiss on primetime TV, an important step for gay rights and equality.
New Normal is a further progression of this issue, demonstrating that there is nothing wrong with a gay or lesbian couple starting their own family. The fact that this show could even be created and picked up by a network is very promising, and demonstrates the progress that has been made. Nevertheless, there has still been controversy over the content of the show, like the Utah TV Company refusing to air it because of its subject matter. Watching this show will demonstrate to other networks that having gay characters or gay shows won’t hurt their ratings, and will ultimately lead to better representation of homosexuality in the media.
Will you be checking out the show? Do you have your own reasons for watching it?
Out of the three shows that were given full season orders by NBC yesterday, The New Normal has the lowest ratings, averaging a 2.2 rating and six million viewers. These are normal ratings but wouldn’t necessarily qualify for such an early pick-up for a full season. It may be because Ryan Murphy just recently signed a deal for two more shows. One is for Fox (Montauk), and another an untitled comedy for NBC. Perhaps the network did not want to create any tension with the hit creator of Glee and American Horror Story.
Although the reviews for the show have been mixed, some saying that the characters are perpetuating stereotypes while other critics have even deemed it racist, it still has drawn a large enough following to be considered successful for NBC, largely thanks to Ryan Murphy’s following and the show’s controversial content.