Neil Patrick Harris is back in the sitcom business and this latest foray is a welcome change of pace to his earlier work in the genre. While How I Met Your Mother<\/a> still has its fans, the show\u2019s heightened reality and questionable characters make it an acquired taste, which has arguably aged even less gracefully than its precursor Friends. It\u2019s a relief, then, that Uncoupled is an altogether more grounded show by comparison, even if it does take a few episodes to find its footing.<\/p>\n The series follows Michael Lawson (Harris), a high-flying New York City estate agent who seems to have the perfect life: a beautiful home, plenty of friends and a loving partner of 17 years in hedge fund manager Colin (Tuc Watkins). Things quickly fall apart, however, when Colin walks out without any warning on his 50th birthday, leaving Michael utterly heartbroken and faced with the daunting prospect of diving back into the dating pool. It\u2019s a journey of healing, but also education, with the world being almost unrecognisable from the last time he was single.<\/p> There\u2019s one aspect of this premise that doesn\u2019t work, and it\u2019s Michael\u2019s professional life. The opening episodes spend a fair amount of time on his day job dealing luxurious multimillion dollar condos and fretting over eye-popping commissions, with his opulent lifestyle detracting from the hapless everyman persona he adopts during his romantic misadventures. Indeed, Michael and his pals sometimes feel like Selling Sunset<\/a> rejects, particularly when making catty remarks about jobs they deem lesser with no self-awareness \u2013 a peculiar choice for a show that leans, to any extent, on relatability.<\/p>\n Fortunately, this storyline gradually fades into the background across the eight-episode season, with Michael\u2019s far more compelling journey of self-discovery becoming the key focus. Uncoupled throws him into a wide variety of comical scenarios, from Grindr hook-ups (both good and bad) to more serious dating and even a weekend at a gay ski resort. It\u2019s fun to watch our newly single \u2013 and not\u00a0<\/em>ready to mingle \u2013 Michael navigate these situations, with Harris bringing real humanity and, at times, poignancy to his performance.<\/p>\n Their occasional flickers of elitism notwithstanding, Michael\u2019s friends are also a likeable bunch, with some exciting new faces in the supporting cast. The largely unknown Emerson Brooks plays charming weather presenter Billy, whose sex-positive lifestyle makes him well primed to guide Michael through his new life as a singleton. There\u2019s also Brooks Ashmanskas, who may be familiar to theatre buffs, but his limited screen credits will make this an introduction to most viewers. It\u2019s a strong first impression, with art dealer Stanley being a more sensitive soul, which allows for an enjoyably varied dynamic when all three are together.<\/p>\n Tisha Campbell also stars as Michael\u2019s colleague and friend Suzanne, who\u2019s given some clunky material towards the start of the season but comes into her own in the second half with some scene-stealing line delivery. Marcia Gay Harden\u2019s client-turned-friend Claire comes closest to How I Met Your Mother syndrome, with her larger-than-life portrayal of a super-rich middle-aged divorcee skirting the limits of believability. But even she finds a more comfortable level towards the end of the run. Indeed, in reference to her unlikely new acquaintance, Suzanne makes this (possibly meta?) comment: \u201cYou\u2019re not going to like her at first, but you\u2019ll warm up as the night goes on.\u201d My thoughts exactly.<\/p>\n Notably, all of these characters are placed in surprising, dramatic binds by the season finale, which beautifully sets up a potential second outing that I sincerely hope does come to fruition. Uncoupled is an authentic depiction of modern dating from an underserved perspective, with Harris delivering big on both comedic and emotional scenes. While not a perfect debut by any means, sitcoms often need time to find their sweet spot and this show does so faster than most.<\/p>\n Uncoupled is available to stream on Netflix from Friday 29th July 2022. Check out more of our Comedy<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> to see what\u2019s on tonight.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0and get the next 12 issues for only \u00a31. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a>\u00a0with Jane Garvey.<\/b><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By David Craig Published: Wednesday, 27 July 2022 at 12:00 am 4.0 out of 5 star rating Neil Patrick Harris is back in the sitcom business and this latest foray is a welcome change of pace to his earlier work in the genre. While How I Met Your Mother still has its fans, the show\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":19231,"template":"","categories":[5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/uncoupled-review-the-best-sitcom-of-neil-patrick-harriss-career.jpg",1280,853,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/uncoupled-review-the-best-sitcom-of-neil-patrick-harriss-career-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/uncoupled-review-the-best-sitcom-of-neil-patrick-harriss-career-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/uncoupled-review-the-best-sitcom-of-neil-patrick-harriss-career-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/uncoupled-review-the-best-sitcom-of-neil-patrick-harriss-career-1024x682.jpg",800,533,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/uncoupled-review-the-best-sitcom-of-neil-patrick-harriss-career.jpg",1280,853,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/uncoupled-review-the-best-sitcom-of-neil-patrick-harriss-career.jpg",1280,853,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By David Craig Published: Wednesday, 27 July 2022 at 12:00 am 4.0 out of 5 star rating Neil Patrick Harris is back in the sitcom business and this latest foray is a welcome change of pace to his earlier work in the genre. While How I Met Your Mother still has its fans, the show\u2019s…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/19230"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/07\/uncoupled-neil-patrick-harris-cast-f4bffc8.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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