Great News

This is one of those shows that was wrongfully cancelled and should be brought back. Especially considering the end of season 2, but I wont go there. If you like 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Great News is right up your alley.

Katie Wendelson (Briga Heelan) has been stuck producing puff pieces on MMN's The Breakdown with flighty Portia Scott-Griffith (Nicole Richie). After a friend's funeral, her Jersey mom Carol (Andrea Martin) is inspired to chase after her dreams and gets a job as difficult anchor Chuck Pierce (John Michael Higgins)'s intern on Katie's show. Greg Walsh (Adam Campbell) is the show's producer and Justin (Horatio Sanz) is the editor.

Creator Tracey Wigfield comes from writing and producing 30 Rock. This is a similar show but a step down. The lead Briga Heelan is a pretty woman with some comedic skills. Of course, she is no Tina Fey. Veterans Andrea Martin and John Michael Higgins deliver some solid wackiness. This is good network sitcom but it is nothing compared to 30 Rock. Even the addition of Tina Fey cameo does nothing to elevate it further. Two half seasons is not a bad run for this type of shows.

Great News, even though it was short-lived, is worth a binge watch. While it has it's issues, which many have pointed out, check the dates those reviews were posted on. The negative ones were mostly posted in 2017, during the show's first season. However, the series solved it's issues by the time the fifth episode of the season aired. But, it wasn't until the seventh episode that the series truly began to shine. It is one the best sitcoms to air on NBC this decade. It's so witty and humorous. Each character really comes into their own after a handful of episodes. The character of Chuck, played by John Micheal Higgins, is the most lovable of them all. His charm is irresistible and I found myself enjoying his portrayal most of all. Give a watch and stick with it, it gets better, even when you think it's already at it's best. Support the series online, and tweet at Hulu or Netflix to pick-up the series for a third season, if you like it. It deserves to thrive like Tina Fey's other Netflix sitcom, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, which is also quite funny, but not as funny as Great News.

Just discovered this little gem on Netflix. Gentle humour with good ensemble cast. Nicole Ritchie is very good as the vacuous co-anchor playing against John Michael Higgins as Chuck, the old school news guy. Briga Heelan and Andrea Martin work well as daughter and helicopter mum. Adam Campbell adds a little British humour and works well as the middle man between Chuck and the rest of the crew. It's not that original in terms of format or content but it makes me laugh, which is all it needs to do.

I am not a person who likes to "try out" new comedies, but Tina Fey's input led me to try this one, and I enjoy it -- it has many moments in each episode which are actually funny, and, more importantly at this early stage, moments which help develop characters.

Frankly (I am surprised to be saying this), I would like more of Nicole Richie and much less of the meddling mother. I think the latter has pretty much been developed as far as she can go -- there doesn't seem to be any growth or arc here yet. On the other hand, Richie is really good at the few moments she is given to shine. Her character needs more space, more development if this show is to survive.

So far, it is too dependent on two notes: (1) the meddling stage mother and (2) the arrogant and insecure overbearing lead anchor. This will get redundant and tiring very soon if there are not other paths taken.