Funerals are great fodder for comedies. From Curb Your Enthusiasm to The Wonder Years to, of course, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, death on a television sitcom is a chance to do something different from their drama counterparts. Make us laugh, obviously, but also to provide us and its characters with a rebirth. A funeral opens the new multi-cam comedy series Mid-Century Modern from Will & Grace creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, as a golden group of lifelong friends turns from a quartet to a trio.
Bunny (Nathan Lane), Arthur (Nathan Lee Graham) and Jerry (Matt Bomer) are mourning their friend George but as our introduction to our three stars, no time is wasted on moroseness. Instead the nails are sharpened and the comedy begins. “You’re not sad, you just look like a reluctant bottom!” cuts through crying quickly as our snappy gay threesome begins shooting their barbs at each other. Bunny lives in Palm Springs, running a highly successful chain of family-owned women’s underwear boutiques, Arthur lives in New York, but recently let go from Vogue magazine and Jerry is an ex-Mormon flight attendant with an ex-wife and a daughter. With a large house and not much in the way of a core group, Bunny suggests the boys move in with him in his slightly garish mid-century modern home (think a chic kitchen but also rooms with so much leopard print it looks like the Interior Illusions lounge). As friends, the three couldn’t possibly be any more different from each other but a great setup for comedy. Bunny is filled with self-loathing (“My self-hatred is one of the things I hate most about myself!”), Arthur is the snarkiest gay this side of Drag Race and Jerry, with sunkissed highlights like a beach bunny lifeguard, is a “mercilessly upbeat Ken doll.” Lane, one of our most gifted comedians, excels here and Graham (who some may recognize as Will Ferrell’s assistant in Zoolander or the Fox series LA to Vegas) is an absolute scream, but it’s Bomer who has the toughest job here. Essentially the Rose Nyland of the group, Bomer balances Jerry’s dumb and earnest personality with golden retriever energy, sharp wit and excellent comic timing.
But while the rule of comedy is three, our most classic and loved comedy ensembles come in fours: Sex and the City, Girls, Designing Women, Living Single and of course, Golden Girls, all knew this and it’s not long before the surprise arrival of Bunny’s mother Sybil, the love and bain of his existence. Played by Linda Lavin, in her last role (she passed away in late December 2024), she is a feisty, salty queen cut from the cloth of Estelle Getty. Every moment and comeback she has is gold. Whether it’s hiding Fig Newtons from Bunny or turning the tables on a scam phone caller or reigniting an old flame (with guest star Judd Hirsch), Lavin turns in one of the best comedic performances of the season. Pamela Adlon adds depth to her role as Bunny’s sister Mindy, a rough and tumble rebel who dresses like a teenage skater and has a bone to pick with everyone.
As an avid television viewer you can usually spot a pilot episode quite easily. To be fair, a pilot episode is like a first date, it’s the short film that might become a feature, it’s what will make the executives and producers hit the green light. There’s no cussing in the first episode, presumably in case the show was sold to a regular network (it landed at Hulu) but from episode two on you’ll hear plenty of shits, fucks and even a cunt. Not the usual language you expect from a multi-cam but put to good use here. On the downside, as with many multi-cam shows, scenes can be painfully short, sometimes barely reduced to a setup and punchline, which are often punctuated quite literally by a ‘ba dum tss.’
The jokes range from old school groaners “What are you going to do with that whisk, whip her into stiff peaks?” and “In gay poker, a straight is the worst hand you can get” to more contemporary jabs at Nicole Kidman in The Perfect Couple (“I love tracking her wigs for slippage”) and a quip during a pill-sorting session that crosses generations (“PrEP. Aw, remember condoms?”). Everything is interspersed with music, not like a musical musical, but whenever our protagonists feel like breaking into a song and dance with choreography, as one does with friends, including an absolutely hilarious riff on “Cell Block Tango” during the aforementioned pill sequence.
The show is also packed with guest stars that provide nonstop supporting entertainment and episodic side trips from Richard Kind who crushes on Bunny, Cheri Oteri as a loopy flight attendant, Jesse Tyler Ferguson as a bitchy sales girl, Stephanie Koenig as a right-wing politician (nicknamed Raunchy Pelosi, love that), Zane Phillips as a Fire Island hook-up for Jerry who’s still Mormon, and multi-Emmy Award winner Rhea Perlman as Sybil’s best friend.
There’s a reason why the home style of mid-century modern design has stayed in vogue for as long as it has. Sometimes a classic is just that and doesn’t need an unsustainable over-the-top gimmick to lock in executives and audiences. You don’t always need to reinvent the wheel with a comedy setup, but a few well-placed gemstones that really sparkle can go a long way.
Grade: B
All 10 episodes of Mid-Century Modern will be available to stream March 28 only on Hulu.
On episode 281 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch… Read More
The New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) announced today that it will hold its annual… Read More
You know when someone smells the rotten milk and says "Oh god, this is horrible,… Read More
A huge week of trailer releases including the latest in the Final Destination and John… Read More
As the new gay comedy series Mid-Century Modern hits Hulu today (see my review here),… Read More
Today, the Palm Springs International Film Society announced dates for its 2026 Palm Springs International Film Awards… Read More
This website uses cookies.
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="250px" width="250px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)