TV Series: HOW I MET YOUR FATHER

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Creators: Isaac Apataker, Elizabeth Berger

Cast: Hillary Duff, Kim Cattrall, Christopher Lowell, Francia Raisa,  Tom Ashley, Suraj Sharma

REVIEW

Sophie’s questionable choices or things no son ever wants to know about his mother. In 2050, Sophie (Kim Cattrall) tells her squeamish son the unvarnished, detail-riddled story of how she met his father. Flashback to 2022 and we follow the romantic adventures of young Sophie (Hillary Duff), as she navigates through the dating scene in New York City. This romantic sitcom is equal parts Sex and the City, Coupling and Friends with a wink and a nod to How I Met Your Mother.

The dialog and pacing in How I met Your Father are fast and furious like a Howard Hawks screwball comedy. At times the jokes are predictable, shopworn and reminiscent of Lenny and Squiggy routines on Laverne & Shirley but most of them hit the mark.

A lot of relationships are happening in this show. You need a scorecard. Young Sophie’s best friend, Valentina, is a lovely, smart Mexican (Francia Raisa). Valentina is an adroit scene-stealer, and her feisty, cross-cultural romance with British Charlie is the stuff spinoffs are made of.

How I Met Your Father is a fun, romantic joyride with Duff driving us through the 2020 courting landscape in The Big Manzana.

Producers: Isaac Aptaker, Elizabeth Berger, Carter Bays

Distributor: Fox Network

Available: Fox, Hulu

Rating:

TV Series: THE CLEANING LADY

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Directors: Marisol Adler, Milan Cheylov

Writer: Miranda Kwok

Cast: Elodie Yung, Adan Canto, Oliver Hudson, Sebastien LaSalle, Sean Law, Martha Millan

REVIEW

The Cleaning Lady is a dark, sensual, morally corrosive retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fable set in modern-day Las Vegas. Thony (Elodie Yung) is a Cambodian-trained doctor working as a cleaning lady to earn money to help her son who has serious health issues. When Thony witnesses a murder by a gangster, Arman Morales (Adan Canto), Thony mops up the mess left by the mobster and removes all evidence of the crime. Impressed with her cleaning skills, Morales hires Thon for future “events.” Thony resists but then agrees when Morales offers to help with her son’s medical needs. A complicated, unorthodox, and dangerous employer/employee relationship ensues.

Oftentimes a viewer of a TV show or film is asked to “suspend disbelief” and accept what appears to be an implausible plot premise. The length to which The Cleaning Lady asks the viewers to suspend disbelief would span the San Francisco Bay. Why, you might logically ask, would a cold-blooded mobster care about a Cambodian cleaning lady? But Yung and Canto make it work. Will Thony get Arman to clean up his act? Or will Arman charm Thony to get down and dirty with him on the dark side? Stay tuned! 

Production Company: Shadow Dance Productions

Distributor: Fox Network

Available: Fox, Hulu

Rating:

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