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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Another wolf makes its way into Southern Oregon ... Our View: Let Medford voters decide on marijuana sales ... Reopening of the Siskiyou Line means trucking companies will take a hit ... Another wolf makes its way into Southern Oregon ... Our View: Let Medford voters decide on marijuana sales ... Reopening of the Siskiyou Line means trucking companies will take a hit ... Stay Tuned: On 'One Big Happy' three's a crowd Comment By Melissa Crawley More Content Now MailTribune.com By Melissa Crawley More Content Now Posted Apr. 7, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Melissa Crawley More Content Now Posted Apr. 7, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News “One Big Happy,” a situation comedy from producer Ellen DeGeneres, focuses on three people who form a non-traditional family. Best friends Lizzy and Luke decide to have a baby together. Then Luke decides to marry Prudence. The basic premise of Lizzy and Luke becoming parents is not uninteresting, but the addition of Prudence is a distraction that weakens the show. Lizzy (Elisha Cuthbert), a lesbian, and her best friend Luke (Nick Zano) promise each other that if they are not in serious relationships by the time they are 30, they will start a family together. They stick to their pact, and Lizzy begins trying to have Luke’s baby through artificial insemination. Exploring the humor in this dynamic has possibilities. The problem is Lizzy and Luke’s one big happy family also includes Prudence (Kelly Brook), a British woman who Luke meets, falls in love with and marries — in one day. It also happens to be the same day that Lizzy finds out that she’s finally pregnant. The instant marriage is silly, but what’s even sillier is complicating a solid idea. If Prudence was a funny addition to the family, Brook’s performance might be bearable, but it would still be unnecessary to the storyline. She tries hard to land every punchline, but it’s a difficult job when her character’s humor basically relies on Brook making her natural British accent as thick as possible. Most of the humor surrounding Prudence, including her preference to walk around naked, are set-ups for jokes that you can see coming a mile away. In one episode, she repeatedly refers to a rooster as a cock. Zano’s main job as Luke is to balance Lizzy’s needs with those of his new wife’s. Since Luke knows little about Prudence, he is stuck between discovering what he likes and dislikes about her while both managing his feelings about fatherhood and supporting Lizzy through the ups and downs of pregnancy. Again, the quickie marriage complicates what could be a story about two friends trying to navigate all the complications of their unconventional decision. Instead, it puts them into positions of having to deal with Prudence when they only really need to deal with each other. To make matters worse, Cuthbert’s comedic skills, used to such great effect as a ditzy airhead on “Happy Endings,” are wasted here. Lizzy is kind of angry and pretty uptight, allowing little room for laughs. Cuthbert does occasionally get to slip in a few solid jokes, but there are not enough of them to save this show or let her do what she does best. “One Big Happy” is six episodes, and I’d be surprised to see it survive past this. A funny idea might be in there somewhere, but as it stands, there’s nothing happy about this nontraditional take on a family. “One Big Happy” is on Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. EDT on NBC. Melissa Crawley is the author of “Mr. Sorkin Goes to Washington: Shaping the President on Television’s ‘The West Wing.’” She has a Ph.D. in media studies and is a member of the Television Critics Association. To comment on Stay Tuned, email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter at @MelissaCrawley. By Melissa Crawley More Content Now MailTribune.com By Melissa Crawley More Content Now Posted Apr. 7, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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