Review by C.J. Bunce
Director James Burrows, known for comedy series from The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show to Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, and 3rd Rock from the Sun has another winner with his new comedy series Mid-Century Modern, its first season of ten half-hour episodes now streaming on Hulu. A thoroughly modern update to the modern family comedy series of decades past going back to Norman Lear’s All in the Family, and a complete 360° compared to even earlier series like My Three Sons, Leave it to Beaver, and Father Knows Best, Mid-Century Modern could settle right in as a future classic if it can keep up the laughs over a few more seasons.
It stars Nathan Lane (The Birdcage, The Lion King), Matt Bomer (White Collar, Chuck, Tru Calling), and Nathan Lee Graham (Zoolander, Katy Keene) as gay friends who decide to become roommates in Palm Springs, where Lane’s character lives with his mother, played by Linda Lavin (Alice, The Muppets Take Manhattan, No Good Deed) in her final role. Think Golden Girls in 2025 and you’re almost there. The title has multiple meanings: the design of the house where the show is set has a play on the Mid-Century Modern design, then there’s the “vintage” of the two older roommates, and the comedy is Modern with a capital M.
From the opening titles to the familiar vibe of a favorite TV show’s upbeat soundtrack to the live studio audience, the production is A+ all the way. The sets are unique and the look is fresh and fun. But it’s the all-in comedy script that seals the deal as a modern classic. Ask yourself what makes a comedy series good. It’s simple: It must make you laugh. And this series delivers in spades with some out-loud laughs peppered throughout every scene.
Nathan Lane plays his comedy as you’d expect as Bunny Schneiderman. He’s the same angsty, flamboyant good guy from The Birdcage and so many other appearances. Here he takes over for Dick Van Dyke or John Ritter or Mary Tyler Moore or Bob Newhart or Bea Arthur in other shows, driving the plot of each episode, tripping over his personality while endearing in his devotion to his mom. Matt Bomer stretches his territory beyond anything you’ve seen him do before as Jerry Frank–he’s the “hunk” of the trio, an oversexed young flight attendant who is shy, self-effacing, and genuinely good in all acts and deeds. He’s also layered, challenging his Mormon roots. His wacky humor makes him the Tweedle Dee of the show, the Stan Laurel of the comedy act. A perfect pairing with Ashton Kusher’s Michael Kelso on That ’70s Show, his dumb is so outrageous and funny that he grabs more than his fair share of the laughs.
But the backbone of the show, the glue that holds it all together despite Nathan Lane’s stage presence is Nathan Lee Graham as Arthur Broussard. Graham is genuine as the wise and wild older gentlemen of the group. The writing for his dialogue is up there with the best of the current comedy lines on Ghosts and Night Court. It’s snappy. It’s sharp. That’s onslaughts and volleys of jokes and sight gags, and it works like you’d expect from a polished half-hour comedy that’s been running for a decade or more. Sometimes the jokes may be too obvious, and the parroting of the roles of the Golden Girls too close, but then again TV viewers haven’t seen this type of show in years, so why not?
The role of the fourth character–Sophia in that Golden Girls analogy–goes to Linda Lavin as Bunny’s mother, Sybil. Lavin gets the best public farewell you may ever see for an actor, as she died midway during filming the season. The production reworked her scenes so that shares a lead plotline with Judd Hirsch in the eighth episode, including a singing number, and the ninth episode is about her character’s death. The balance is a bit tough to manage–the ninth episode is a lovely tribute, but it’s for a character the audience only just met. The writers assumed this audience would be on board for a Linda Lavin tribute. But it means episodes nine and ten drift into sad drama territory and aren’t as funny as they probably were going to be.
The show isn’t about politics, and you’ll find nothing preachy here, just another house amoung hundreds of millions that experiences life, love, crazy things, humor, and death. The ethnic jokes (lighthearted jabs at the Schneidermans’ heritage) will get lost on many, but just wait for the next joke around the bend. High points include guest appearances by comedy staples Richard Kind, Rhea Perlman, Cheri Oteri, Billie Lourd, and Stephanie Koenig. The whole pristine package puts it in the running for best TV series of 2025.
Looking for some laughs? Catch all ten first-season episodes of Mid-Century Modern now streaming on Hulu.
