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Chuck Lorre might be considered to be the 'King of Sitcoms', but that doesn't mean all of his creations are well received. While Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, and Young Sheldon were all incredibly well-received, TBBT spinoff Stuart Fails to Save the Universe is proving to be a little more divisive.
Following awkward comic book store owner Stuart (Kevin Sussman) instead of the core TBBT cast, the new HBO Max show has been simultaneously branded as better than the main series and as "AI slop" (following online controversy surrounding its title sequence).
Is there an objective truth to a TV show being good? Probably not — but if people are intent on hating Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, then it's time to move our attention to another Chuck Lorre comedy that continues to fly under the radar.
If you miss the traditional multicam sitcom format, or are really enjoying its usage in the Young Sheldon spinoff Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage, Leanne on Netflix is your next port of call… and season 2 is streaming now.
When we first met her in season 1, Leanne (a fictional version of comedian Leanne Morgan) had her life turned upside down when her husband of 33 years unexpectedly left her for another woman. Fast-forward a year, and she's dealing with a milestone birthday, moving her parents into her home, and continuing to try out the world of modern dating.
Does this sound like something my mother would watch rather than me? On paper, yes — but there's something so overwhelmingly endearing about Leanne and its concept that I cannot help but be glued to my TV screen, rooting for her.
That starts with how intoxicating Morgan is herself. Her Southern accent is as thick as honey, and you'll be hard-pressed to believe that she's not putting it on (trust me, she's not). Her humor is the kind that speaks before she thinks, and that naturalistic tone only makes us want to be her best friend.
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Then there's the fact that we're watching a woman in her sixties succeed on the world's biggest streaming service. If you're chronically online, you might remember the study conducted by Age Without Limits suggesting that projects are more likely to star an actor called Chris or a talking animal than a woman over 60 [via The Guardian]. Maybe it only takes a determined Southern woman to dismantle that.
Leanne is quiet about it, but the new sitcom is changing the landscape of entertainment right under our noses. Maybe, just maybe, that makes it Lorre's most important work of all.
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Jasmine is a Streaming Staff Writer for TechRadar, previously writing for outlets including Radio Times, Yahoo! and Stylist. She specialises in comfort TV shows and movies, ranging from Hallmark's latest tearjerker to Netflix's Virgin River. She's also the person who wrote an obituary for George Cooper Sr. during Young Sheldon Season 7 and still can't watch the funeral episode.
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