Small Achievable Goals

I liked the first two episodes well enough because of the attention they brought to women trying to perform on the job while experiencing cramps or menopause symptoms. For many women, this can be incredibly difficult, trying to smile and participate professionally, while your insides are spasming or you feel like you are burning up, with sweat dripping down your very flushed face. I did really like these issues being showcased. I did not like the swearing and vulgarity, however, which seemed to increase in episode three, at which point I stopped watching. It seemed like the "humour" was relying too much on crudeness, which I don't find humuorous.

When I heard there was a show about Menopause, I thought, 'brilliant'. Great concept and a great area with a lot of funny and important stuff to draw from. But this isn't a show, it's a cartoon. A bad one. Instead of mining the potential comedy and stories inherent to menopause, the CBC saw fit to just let Meredith do her thing and milk any semblance of a joke until it is devoid of whatever made it funny in the first place.

It's hard to believe this is the same network that gave us Schitt's Creek. What happened? I'm a huge proponent of the CBC. I think a public broadcaster is ESSENTIAL to our identity as Canadians, but I think the CBC needs a shake up, big time. It needs to be gutted, taken down to the studs, and rebuilt with people who know what they're doing and don't keep making the same humourless comedies.

Ignore the morbies and nay-sayers and give this a watch. It's hilarious. My (male) partner thinks so, too. The ladies are *not* hysterical, as per other reviewers. The show talks straight about real issues in women's lives but it's also very, very funny. We just wandered into it by chance and ended up binging quite a few episodes, laughing all the way.

It is well-executed. The show is not just about menopause - although why would that be a bad thing? If it makes you want to vote for the Tories, you're taking yourself way too seriously. And why is everyone so hard on the Ceeb? The Ceeb does great work.

I like that the characters are fallible, vulnerable, fully-rounded, and look and sound like real people. No one is a caricature. The humour is apposite, the narrative is engaging, the characters are sympathetic. It's nice to see a show that deals with the realities of women's lives without sinking into sentimentality or cynicism - it's just, refreshingly, right.

The only question I have for this show is: why? And also 'how'? How does this show make it to the air? Surely someone along the way must have raised a red flag that this show isn't good, like, at all. In this time of so much content, this kind of bunk just isn't going to cut it. This is why Canadians think Canadian shows are so bad! Do the people who work at cbc not watch other television? Do they not see how good shows are, and how shows like this are decidedly not? The boss character (I think that's what he is, I'm not sure) drinks from a metal straw. That's his whole personality. He drinks from a straw. Honestly, please cbc, you gotta do better. Like so so so much better.

Hilarious and sometimes cringy sitcom from two of the creators of Baroness von Sketch about the challenges and indignities of being a menopausal woman in a society that is youth obsessed and still full of sexism. This show isn't for everyone, but if you enjoyed Baroness von Sketch, you will love Small Achievable Goals. Meredith McNeill and Jennifer Whelan are wonderful, and they have a great supporting cast full of Canadian comic actors. I laughed all through the pilot and can't wait to see the rest of the series. Older women should watch beach use they will relate, and younger women and men should watch for the educational value.