There is almost no reason for a self-described TV snob like me to want to watch Netflix’s original series, The Ranch.
The show, created by Two and a Half Men producers Don Reo and Jim Patterson, is hardly what one would call highbrow comedy. And in an era of cutting-edge auteur comedies such as Aziz Ansari’s Master of None and Louie CK’s Louie, why would anyone waste 5 hours watching 10 episodes of a traditional, 3-camera sitcom that stars network sitcom stalwarts Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson? That’s what I thought when I finally gave in to Netflix’s incessant home page promotion of the show earlier this year and queued up the first episode. 5 hours later, I came away more than pleasantly surprised. Although by no means a comedic boundary pusher, The Ranch is an often funny, deeply heartfelt comedy that eschews the traditional trials and tribulations of upper middle-class left-leaning yuppies that prestige comedies love to highlight. Instead, the show points a deft comedic lens at the underrepresented flyover state set, combining admittedly juvenile humor with a strong dramatic undercurrent of real-life problems faced by those left behind during the last decade of economic growth.
The Ranch, which premiered its second set of 10 episodes last week, introduces us to Colt Bennett (Kutcher), a former high school quarterback phenom who has finally given up on his professional football dreams and decided to move back home to his family cattle ranch in Colorado. The ranch is run by his cantankerous father, Beau Bennett (Sam Elliott), with help from his older brother Rooster (Masterson). Meanwhile, Maggie (Debra Winger) Colt’s mom and owner of the only bar in town, pops by the family home to, ahem, visit with her separated husband, as well as see her two sons. Colt’s return throws off the well worn relationships and rhythms that have settled into place in this small town. Rooster worries that Colt’s return will knock him down the pecking order with his father at the ranch that he has dutifully worked at for the past 17 years. Colt quickly reconnects with his old high school flame, Abby (Elisha Cuthbert), only to discover that she is dating a former classmate. And the “will they or won’t they” tension begins apace.
While this setup is admittedly nothing special, what really gets the show moving are the quiet moments between the traditional setup-punchline jokes that are peppered throughout the show. The show highlights real issues that face lower-middle class families. Money is tight, relationships aren’t easy, and episodes don’t always end with a hug and a lesson. Decisions have consequences and these consequences have to be addressed and dealt with. There is a homespun blue-collar ethos that pervades the show, wringing real emotions out of the problems faced by this dysfunctional family. The Netflix format helps aid in the storytelling, by allowing scenes to meander naturally into the each other, rather than having a forced break for commercials. In fact, the transitions between episodes are so well executed, that I essentially watched the entire first half season in a single viewing, consuming it as if it were a long, multi-act play, rather than a traditional sitcom. The show is very much helped by the rock solid performances of Elliott as the stoic Bennett patriarch and Winger as his on-again, off-again wife. Elliott in particular plays the straight man to his sons’ shenanigans with an understated style that is unlike anything I’ve seen on television. His taciturn father figure makes the most of the fewest words, which turn his flashes of emotion into truly memorable moments.
It would be easy to dismiss The Ranch based on its by-the-numbers trailer and pedigree. But to do so would be to miss a stealthily sweet comedy that places family values front and center, even if the family we are watching is a barely functioning one. And as someone who came in as a skeptic, consider me now a true believer.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Atoms
from Nerd Reactor
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