Normally I wouldn’t be into a show featuring breast pumps and expectant parents’ love/hate relationship with the concept of the minivan. But all the Rachael Harris (pictured) action in the promos compelled me to check out Notes from the Underbelly and I have to say… I thought a lot of it was hilarious. The pace was quick, the food cravings were super disgusting and therefore awesome, and I didn’t roll my eyes at the central couple’s quirkiness even once! (How adorable is newcomer Peter Cambor?) To be honest, this show had me as soon as they name-dropped an odd obsession of mine, Nordstrom. "I’m not a loser. I play piano by the escalator." YES.
As the two pregnant women’s sarcastic, power-single best friend, Harris’ role is crucial — it’s important to have both sides of the I’m Pregnant/No One Cares That You’re Having a Baby schism represented. And you had to love ABC’s cunning cross-promotion — when Harris’ character is getting… um, serviced from under the covers, she’s also fervently watching an episode of Lost. Cut to a different couple engaging in the same act, and the guy can’t stop checking the screen to watch Jack run into the ocean. Genius.
What did you think? Will Notes continue to rise above cliché and stick around?
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As long as they are only after the female viewers, then ABC should be content. I tried watching it, and was dumbfounded such idiocy even makes it to the air. But as a heterosexual 39 year old white male, I guess I am not the demographic they are seeking…
I was very bored last night, and stumbled across this show, and with nothing better to do watched some of it. I too am a hetero mid-twenties male, and while I thought it was semi-amusing, ALOT of the jokes are geared toward parents who went through the having-a-baby experience. So I doubt it will get the young audience. And I agree with previous post in that males will not tune in in droves to see breastfeeding jokes. Really it wasn’t that bad as sitcoms go, but I do not think it will find an audience. Shame cuz I love Rachel Harris.
It has a LOT of potential, so i REALLY hope ABC doesn’t yank too soon before it gains it’s footing..
I was very surprised to find that I liked it. Most new comedies seem to just try way too hard to be funny and they almost always fall short. This one, though, actually made me laugh a few times.
Rachel Harris makes this show watchable. If this show doesn’t work out, take her and her character and park her at Boston Legal until we can think of what else to do with her.
I agree Rachel is a rare find. Kudos for casting her. However, the show has one major flaw (at least in the eyes of this female viewer): all the guys are fugly. I know that in the TV 10 commandments, rule #1 is “Thou Shalt Pair Fat and/or guy with Perfect Hot Wife” but c’mon! The main guy looked like Mr. Limpet and his best friend resembled those bug-eyed goldfish. Could the dudes been a little cuter?
Otherwise, it was an OK show. Their back-and-forth-dance about the baby was a little tiring by Episode 2. I know the point is the see-saw combo of blissful anticipation and morbid dread, but their has got to be a more charming and less tedious way to present it.
Personally I really liked it. Having an almost-three-year-old takes me back to when we were trying to figure out what we really wanted and the struggles each new thing brought. Of course our pregnancy wasn’t near this entertaining…I hope it sticks around for a while! Cute show!
I’m pregnant right now so I thought it was hilarious. Unfortunately, I agree with the others that there is not a big enough audience to keep it around. I’ll watch it as long as it goes though.
It’s a pretty good show, i was way more entertain with it than any episode of Men in Trees. I think it would give some balance to Greys in that spot
I LOVED the Cooper character. I narrated several of the scenes to a friend who is without kids, and urged her to watch. It was freaking hilarious. LOVED the show.
Sadly I won’t be able to watch it now! I loved the pilot hour but they’re putting it on at 8:30 on Wednesdays! I tivo Bones and Jericho so I won’t be able to watch it…I guess I’ll have to catch it the morning after on abc.com…
I thought it was a cute show… Rachel Harris is hillarious. I do think it’s funny though that single guys are complaining that it’s not geared enough towards them. (To be fair… not really complaining just commenting.) Look at how many shows are geared toward males in the 18-49 group. This show hits a different demographic, and it is appreciated.
I think that it should stay post-Grey’s, me and my room mate really liked it but Wed. @ 8:30 is a terrible time
My husband and I LOVED this show. We don’t have kids, but are in our late twenties and all of our friends seem to be having kids, accumulating mini-vans, the moms start scrapbooking, and having child-rearing conversations. I agree that 8:30 Wed. is an awful time slot.
Racheal Harris charcter reminds me of Samantha Jones from Sex and the City!!! They are both laugh out loud hilarious!
Straight male here that found it kind of funny. I would give it a second shot, but it IS on against Top Model (geez the things I watch!). And it would have been on against Friday Night Lights had it not ended.
I actually disliked the Cooper character. I thought she was the most broad and overwrought.
Here’s the thing: they have snappy dialog and funny characters that get your attention. It’s the keeping the attention that they’re gonna have to address. To increase their viewership they need to pull in more of the Daddy’s point of view for all the guys out there going through parenting. Then they need to put in some characters that have about 3 kids (that part with the drained couple telling it like it REALLY is was hysterical) for all those parents out there that are in the midst of a third or fourth kid and how they are sooo different from the first time mom’s/dad’s out there. Then they might actually have a hit.
Here’s the thing: they have snappy dialog and funny characters that get your attention. It’s the keeping the attention that they’re gonna have to address. To increase their viewership they need to pull in more of the Daddy’s point of view for all the guys out there going through parenting. Then they need to put in some characters that have about 3 kids (that part with the drained couple telling it like it REALLY is was hysterical) for all those parents out there that are in the midst of a third or fourth kid and how they are sooo different from the first time mom’s/dad’s out there. Then they might actually have a hit.
Anything with Jennifer Westfeldt is yes. So stoked this series is seeing the light of day.
My suggestion to the powers that be is making sure the couple (Jules and her husband) who are so over the top during pregnancy are actually made to realize the idiocy of their preparation and the REALITY of having a baby after it happens. No one is happy to get up in the middle of the night and I don’t know a single husband who EVER got up to watch his wife breast feed the baby.
All in all it was enjoyable, but there does need to be a touch of reality brought in to even it out. A little less “Full House” and more “Roseanne” would be nice.
I really liked it. As a mom to a 3 year old, I remember all the the times preparing for the Little Ones arrival. The parts about Lost and “Pro/Con” statements were hilarious. Hate the time slot and hope its gets a good chance by ABC.
Rachael Harris is great as Cooper! She had the best lines and the funniest scenes. I’ll keep watching to see what she does next!
Wow! You mentioned Lost! Lately, LOST seems to be the show POPWATCH doesn’t care about anymore.
PLEASE! Popwatch used to be such a LOST fan! What happened? Besides, the show has gotten awesome recently.
Given that Rachel Harris ruled during every VH1 ‘I love the 70’s/80’s/90’s series, I will check it out for her alone.
Although I find it kind of strange that anyone would cast Rachael Harris in the Samantha Jones role, she totally pulled it off! I also loved the one couple’s “mock feeding” in the middle of the night.
My daughter dared me to watch the show and Rachael Harris’ presence caused me to take the dare. That lady just cracks me up! To my surprise, I found it rather likable, but I too will be unable to watch because of the time slot. Oh well…
I won’t watch because of Rachel Harris. She’s worn her welcome out at my house by ruining every VH1 show she’s on.
My husband and I watched the show and thought it was hilarious. I think we probably wouldn’t have found it as funny if I wasn’t pregnant with my second. As far as the comments that it didn’t take in the guys perspective… hello… the narrator is the husband. Plus, my husband looked at me at one point and told me that that is totally how he feels sometimes!
I checked it out for Rachel Harris, and suprisingly, really liked it! I thought the husband was really cute, and other than the annoying Glad Wrap chick, pretty solid outing.