I am – Hercules!!


A new sitcom based on a Web series from “Help Me Help You” creators Jennifer Konner and Alexandra Rushfield, “In The Motherhood” stars Cheryl Hines (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Megan Mullally (“Will & Grace”) and Jessica St. Clair (Worst Week”) as friends who are also mothers.

Jimmy Fallon’s old SNL partner, Horatio Sanz, is on the show too, and has lost so much weight I barely recognized him. “Veronica Mars” vet Ken Marino, who stars simultaneously on the Starz sitcom “Party Down” is on hand as well, as is Rachael Harris, who just got done with ABC’s earlier motherhood sitcom “Notes From The Underbelly.”

Cheryl Hines is hot and talented but this stillborn sitcom turns out to be grating and woefully maladroit. Happily, it shouldn’t last long enough to sully memories of her work on Larry David’s better, HBO sitcom.

USA Today give it one star (out of four) and says:

… Big Day, Carpoolers, Notes From the Underbelly, In Case of Emergency, Emily's Reasons Why Not — the list of one-camera, vaguely absurdist ABC bombs doesn't have to be exhaustive to be exhausting. And now we get what may be the worst of them all: In the Motherhood, a show so bad that it threatens to take the only potentially viable example of the ABC format, Samantha Who?, down with it. …

The New York Times says:

… It’s an impressive cast and a perfectly good premise, but for some reason, Thursday’s pilot episode is not very funny. …

The Los Angeles Times says:

… worked as a Web series based on real-life stories but not, it would seem, as a television series based on overused stereotypes. …

The Washington Post says:

… is based on a Web series of the same name, but what makes it work is that it's also based on recognizable human behavior -- the warp and woof (and the bow and the wow) of everyday life as lived by three allied moms. Together, they share grievances, experiences and witticisms -- many of them well worth sharing and very well shared. Long story short: These girls are golden.…

The San Francisco Chronicle says:

… even though "In the Motherhood" may have universal appeal, overly familiar premises can lead to lameness …

The Boston Herald says:

… funnier in concept than in execution. …

The Boston Globe says:

… Mullally brings on a welcome bit of subversion. Very welcome, really. "In the Motherhood" is an otherwise disappointing network adaptation of a spikier Web series…

Variety says:

… the result is tonally uneven, too-rarely funny and rehashes material that isn't as relatable as it should be to the average parent. An amusing line occasionally burbles out, but ABC's latest attempt to establish a Thursday comedy beachhead mostly just manages to make the timeslot's usual occupant, "Ugly Betty," look gorgeous by comparison. …

The Hollywood Reporter says:

… Not that the TV version doesn't have its charms: Cheryl Hines ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") and Megan Mullally ("Will & Grace") are blessedly back in series rotation. Unfortunately, they're playing only slightly retooled versions of the characters that made them famous …

8 p.m. Thursday. ABC.

Brock On!!