Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Whenever I’m at a party or attending an edge-of-your-seat professional bull riding event at Madison Square Garden, people tend to ask me for TV recommendations once they discover that I cover pop culture for a living. When this happens, I always have the same answer locked and loaded: “I’m off the clock, buster. Mind your own beeswax.” Once I have a drink or the exhilarating thrill of sharing the same air as the fiercest bucking bulls on the planet wears off, I always suggest streaming the straight-up funniest comedy on television: USA’s Playing House.
Starring long-time UCB performers and real-life best buds Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham, Playing House centers around two best friends, Emma (St. Clair) and Maggie (Parham), who raise a baby together, definitively proving that Ted Danson, Steve Guttenberg, and Tom Selleck don’t have the comedic market cornered on zany baby hijinks.
What elevates Playing House to the upper echelon of sitcoms is that it combines a breakneck comedic pace with an offbeat brand of fresh humor that’s distinctly unique to St. Clair and Parham. It’s not quality or quantity; it’s quality and quantity. You just can’t fake the type of organic comedic chemistry the pair have developed after years of performing together. There’s a reason why Playing House’s naturalistic dialogue and never-ending arsenal of clever one-liners sounds improvised. The comedy veterans rely on their improv background to craft each and every episode.
“When we write, we improvise and tape record ourselves, so we play all the parts, including ourselves,” St. Clair told Splitsider back in 2014. “We tape record ourselves, and then that gets transcribed and becomes the first draft of the show. The ways we talk to each other and the things we say are what actually came out of our mouths.”
The series is lauded for its authentic portrayal of female friendship, but it also features one of the most compelling romantic relationships on television. Keegan-Michael Key — aka the Swiss Army Knife of comedy — portrays Emma’s high school sweetheart and lovable weirdo Mark Rodriguez. St. Clair and Key’s sizzling will they/won’t they tension is only surpassed by their effortless comedic chemistry. Actually, “lovable weirdo” is the perfect term to describe the supporting cast of Playing House. The series excels at making each and every character a distinct person we care about. St. Clair and Parham relish in creating unique, fully-formed characters for their comedy pals, which often leads to some of the weirdest, funniest moments on the show.
Few sitcoms are as adept at balancing kooky antics with heartfelt sincerity.
Much like previous episodes, Season 3 will borrow from real life. Last month, St. Clair opened up about her battle with breast cancer; a courageous story the duo decided to tell in the upcoming season.
“We were worried about bringing such serious subject matter to a comedy show, but we’ve always written what we’ve lived,” St. Clair wrote. “And our real story is that with the help of her best friend, and the people who love her, my character is able to get through the treatment and actually emerge somehow happier and more fulfilled than she was before she was diagnosed.”
There’s just something so cozy about watching two best friends trying to make each other laugh. Playing House is an exceptional comedy rooted in kindness, madcap antics, and most importantly, friendship. It’s a sure-fire cure for a crummy day that’s guaranteed to make you smile. Catch up now before the funniest comedy on TV returns for Season 3.
The first two seasons of Playing House are available to stream (with a cable login) on USA. Following the June 23 Season 3 premiere, all eight episodes of the third season will be available to stream the next day on VOD, USANetwork.com, and the USA Now app.
