Common Sense Media Review
By Joyce Slaton
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Best friends procreate; strained laughs ensue in stale show.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
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One Big Happy
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Longtime best friends Lizzy (Elisha Cuthbert) and Luke (Nick Zano) had an agreement: If neither of them had kids by the time they were 30, they'd procreate platonically together (she's gay, he's not). But just as their efforts (literally) bear fruit, the whimsical Prudence (Kelly Brook) breezes into their lives, in need of a way to avoid deportation back to her native England. One trip to Vegas later and the trio is ONE BIG HAPPY. No one is exactly sure how Prudence will fit into Lizzy and Luke's plan, how Luke will transform from a goofball into a responsible father, or how the picky and uptight Lizzy is going to stand a new woman in her house and in her life. But they're ready to give it a shot.
Is It Any Good?
Hey, what do you say when you go to pick up a prescription at the drugstore? "I'm here to pick up a prescription for [your last name]," right? Something like that. Not on this show. Here, Elisha Cuthbert (showing some sass as Lizzy despite the awful writing) says to the pharmacist, "I'm here to pick up my prenatal prescription right now I'm pre-prenatal but I hope to be natal very soon!" Then Luke swans up behind her, loudly proclaiming, "I bought a bunch of pregnancy tests!" as the laugh track swells. Talk about obvious.
NBC may possibly be trying to recapture its glory days with an old-school-style sitcom with a gimmicky setup and a bunch of attractive actors brushing up against each other. But, despite the relative charm of the cast, it ain't working. This show never knew an obvious joke it didn't reach for; for example, the moment a pregnancy test appears on-screen, you know a joke about pee is soon to follow. But One Big Happy isn't content with one obvious and cliché pee joke, it goes for three. Producer Ellen DeGeneres' desire to make a fun show about a nontraditional family is valid, but One Big Happy tries way too hard. The only laughter you'll hear here is the overused laugh track.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what you think of the premise of One Big Happy. Is it a realistic setup? Do you know any nontraditional families like these? Do they act, live, or talk like these characters?
NBC was once the go-to network for ensemble comedies: Friends, The Office, Will & Grace, Scrubs, Seinfeld. Does One Big Happy fit in with the tradition of these comedies? How?
TV Details
- Premiere date : March 17, 2015
- Cast : Elisha Cuthbert , Kelly Brook , Nick Zano
- Network : NBC
- Genre : Comedy
- TV rating :
- Last updated : December 10, 2025
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