Leanne is a very recent addition to the Netflix lineup, and I had heard good things in the brief time between its premiere and when I finally watched it. We were in New Orleans, Louisiana, in a hotel room while my wife was recovering from her recent surgery, and I was genuinely surprised at how good this show is. Then I found out that it was created by Chuck Lorre, who is famous for The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men. Strangely enough, this was done with Warner Bros., and they easily could have made it for CBS and then retained older streaming rights through HBO Max. But Netflix is its home and will probably remain so unless there’s some deal I don’t know about.
The show stars Leanne Morgan, who plays a fictional woman sharing her own first name. Leanne is married to Bill, and they’ve been together for a very long time. Everything seems stable in their Knoxville, Tennessee, home—until she finds out Bill is leaving her for another (and younger) woman. She is devastated, betrayed, and honestly doesn’t know what to do.
Her rock is her younger sister Carol, who is wilder and much more of a maverick than she is. Carol pushes her to do things she wouldn’t normally try on her own. I will say, though, that Kirstie Alley does struggle to sound convincingly southern in this role. She’s a great TV actress, but I was a bit surprised she was cast, especially since Leanne Morgan herself is genuinely southern.
I also find it difficult to dislike her husband Bill, simply because he’s played by Ryan Stiles, whom I fondly remember from The Drew Carey Show and his long run on Whose Line Is It Anyway?. Most of Bill’s actions are hard to forgive, and karma bites him more than once, but he’s written as a well-developed character and serves as a solid foundation for the ensemble of a new TV series.
Leanne herself is very likable. I had never seen her in anything before, though I’m pretty sure I’ve caught bits and pieces of her stand-up routines. While I’m somewhat the opposite of what you’d stereotypically consider a “southerner,” it’s refreshing to see a show set in the American South that avoids the usual political baggage—there’s no mention of the Republican Party, and definitely no Donald Trump.
I will say that Bill and Leanne’s two children feel like dead weight. The son, Tyler, is bland and boring, though his marital storyline has potential. The daughter, Josie, is free-spirited but doesn’t really have strong storylines of her own. Hopefully, the writers will flesh them out more in the future.
Watching Leanne’s path toward finding love again after heartbreak is genuinely rewarding. Many people don’t realize how much harder dating can be for women in their 50s compared to their 20s. That said, it’s not entirely believable that she struggles THAT much, because she looks great for nearly sixty, isn’t crazy, and has a mostly sweet personality.
Leanne is probably not going to be my all-time favorite sitcom, but it’s a great addition to the Netflix library. My wife and I loved it, and we binged through the modest number of episodes in just a day or two. As long as Chuck Lorre and the right creative team stay behind it, I think it has the potential to become a modern classic. Still, I can’t help but worry that Netflix executives may eventually ruin it, as they’ve done with some of their best hits… cough Witcher cough.