Thursday, July 14, 2022

Watch Neil Patrick Harris Get Dumped in Netflix's 'Uncoupled'

 

As I've previously reported, Neil Patrick Harris returns to television later this month in the series "Uncoupled" -- and now you can watch the first trailer, below: 


In it, Harris plays Michael Lawson, a 40something real-estate broker whose partner of 17 years, Colin, played by dreamy Tuc Watkins, leaves him as Michael is throwing his man a surprise 50th birthday party. 


I've watched the first season and came away impressed. The supporting cast made up of Michael's friends is an organically diverse bunch -- his work best pal is a black single mom (Tisha Campbell); and his two best gays are a schlubby-American who doesn't get much action (Brooks Ashmanskas) and a narcissistic weatherwhore (Emerson Brooks) -- while the storylines are well-written and topical, without feeling forced. 


Co-creators Darren Star and Jeffrey Richman seem at home with the “suddenly single” middle-age gay man theme -- debut dick pics, PreP, barebacking 20somethings with daddy fetishes, etc. -- which was certainly something I can relate to having re-entered the dating scene at 47 after 12 years in a committed relationship with someone I met in an AOL chat room.


As the only gay man who doesn't know what a Neil Patrick Harris is -- I've never seen a single episode of "Doogie Howser M.D." or "How I Met Your Mother," nor would I have ever gone to White Castle with Harold or Kumar -- I wasn't sure what to expect. But he quickly won me over with his performance that was the perfect blend of vulnerability without fake humility, which tracks with his character's reality. (He may have been dumped, but he’s not exactly dumpy.) My biggest concern now is that "Uncoupled" will become another "Looking," HBO's criminally underappreciated series about gay men from a few years ago. I can already hear Gen-Z viewers whining about the show "revolving around a cis white man" while mindlessly not taking into account that A) There haven't exactly been any shows about gay men, cis white or otherwise; and B) You need a name to get a show on television -- and NPH and his gang of friends aren't exactly turn-of-the-century Carrie Bradshaw & Co. My rating: A-


"Uncoupled" arrives July 29 on Netflix. 

4 comments:

j said...

I really miss Looking which was a great show about gay men which should have run longer

Steve said...

Looking forward to watching this. NPH is a great actor, just wish he didn't shave his chest.

AB said...

I love NPH. I look forward to this show although I don't have a way to watch it hopefully I can crash a friend's house or wait until it comes out on DVD like I did the Looking series. I'm just hoping it doesn't have too many of the stereotypical gay cliches and more a combination good story lines with emotion connections, not over the top gay characters and humor.

Ed Carlevale said...

Great review. Thanks.