Anna Faris gets off on the wrong foot (or, rather, the writers do) when her character, Christy, cries and sniffles for the first three minutes of the show. It’s supposed to be funny, but it’s more annoying (especially because it has been featured in promos for the show, so we’ve seen it over and over again). The second annoying thing about this series is the laugh track. The “audience” (or, rather, the button that makes the “audience” sound) laughs at lines that aren’t even meant to be funny.
Christy is struggling through recovery from alcohol abuse and she’s surrounded by people who make her miserable, from her co-workers (including French Stewart, who seems only capable of playing variations of the character he played on 3rd Rock From The Sun) to her family, headlined by Allison Janney, who deserves better material. Janney’s character is the only fairly bright spot in an otherwise bleak show, and that’s only because of she calls herself a recovering addict, but she finds any excuse she can to justify the substances she continues to abuse. She’s self-absorbed and not very caring, yet she still wants to be a part of her daughter’s life, and insinuates herself into the family, especially through Christy’s trampy daughter. Christy also has a young son, who has a bit of an inferiority complex, which makes the audience button go “awwww”.
Another element that makes Mom hard to like is that, although she says she’s trying to clean up her act, she doesn’t seem to have any qualms about her affair with her married boss. It’s okay, though, because Gabriel (played by Nathan Corddry, who also deserves better) is trapped in a marriage of convenience with a horrible woman.
Mom comes from the ultra-successful producer, Chuck Lorre (The Big Bang Theory, Two And A Half Men), and that’s the one thing that could get this show a second season, which it does not deserve. Unless the writing improves to earn the laughs that the button provides, not even Lorre’s clout will save this show.
TV Gord’s verdict: Watch it while you can! (Cancelled early on)