ABC’s A MILLION LITTLE THINGS is Going to Force Us all to Shed A Million Little Tears

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to the ABC line up this fall, and personally I can’t wait for all the new shows, is the first season of A Million Little Things.

The series opener brings friends Jon Dixon (Ron Livingston), Rome Howard (Romany Malco), Eddie Saville (David Giuntoli) and Gary (James Roday).

What brings them together even more is that Jon decides to do something that is about to change their lives forever. Rome almost met the same fate as his friend as he hides his depression; Eddie tries to stay away from the bottle and is in love but not with his wife and Gary works days to day to keep the fear of cancer at bay.

Delilah (Stephanie Szostak) must come to terms with why Jon chose to leave his family, Regina (Christina Marie Moses) discovers that Jon believed to much in her that he had a surprise waiting, Maggie (Allison Miller) also deals with a threat in her life and Jon’s assistant Ashley (Christina Ochoa) is hiding secrets from them all.

Filled with fear, doubt, love, uncertainty, friendship, change, secrets and surprises – these friends and their loved ones are on a journey to discover why Jon did what he did and what that means moving forward.

Livingston as Jon is going to be the ghost of the show in that we will only see him in the flashbacks of his family and friends. That doesn’t bother me in the slightest because Livingston is one of the most underrated actors we have today. His body of work has always kept me watching because he keeps taking on roles that challenge not only Livingston as an actor but me as a viewer.

Roday as Gary is the first character in a series that addresses the fears of cancer for men. He is the jokester of the group with his witty come backs and one-liners but, as with most funny people, there is a deep well of fear that is going to bubble to the surface with each episode. I am a bit fond of Roday’s character from the first episode and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

Malco as Rome is the character that is going to let us know that sometimes even the darkest places can have moments of light. Wanting to get a movie made, he is feeling his life out of control and confessing to his friends how he has been feeling, those same friends he was afraid to talk to will be the ones to reach out with a life preserver.

Giuntoli as Eddie has a secret that is a big one and I have to say as the story of all the characters unfold, I can’t say his role in it all is going to come off so well. I’m not sure how I feel about it all but at the season progresses I’m sure I will have a lot to say about him.

Szostak as Delilah has so many questions about Jon yet the answers might be more than she can take. Raising a teenage daughter and young son, they also want to know why tragedy has struck their family and she is going to have some explaining to do.

Moses as Regina has a big dream that she believes in unattainable considering the circumstances she and husband Rome are in. It’s hard to be a chef and start a new restaurant but Jon believes in her and proves it. Miller as Maggie joins the group swift and hard capturing Gary’s attention straight out. The group takes to her right away and Delilah likes her immediately.

Ochoa as Ashley is going to be the keeper of all secrets I think and I don’t like the look of what she’s done in just one episode. Of course with any good employee there is going to be a modicum of protecting one’s boss but boy, she is going above and beyond the call of duty. As Truuvy would say, “I think there’s a story there!”

From the first scene to the last, we are invited to talk about issues that still, to this day, remain hard to talk about or impossible in some cases. A Million Little Things isn’t about to let that stay the fact for long and I welcome it. If the stories of these characters open dialogue (as I hope it will) then trust when I say this series is well on its way to becoming a stand out favorite.

Hold onto your Kleenex boxes because this show is going to have us all understanding and embracing the complexities of these characters with occasional tears. Diving into their individual stories is going to be complicated and bringing us even more questions and personally – I can’t wait.

DJ Nash is the creator and executive producer of A Million Little Things. Also Aaron Kaplan and Dana Honor are executive producers of the show along with James Griffiths who also directs the pilot. The show is brought to viewers by ABC Studios and Kapital Entertainment.

A Million Little Things premiers Wednesday September 26^th at 10:00 p.m. on ABC!

SINGLE PARENTS Brings the Realities of Parenthood with Twisted Comedy from ABC

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to ABC beginning Wednesday, September 26 at 9:30 is a new comedy series that handles the realities of being a parent by helping us all laugh at it with Single Parents.

It is the first day of class and Will Cooper (Taram Killam) is introducing himself as the classroom parent. The other parents including Angie (Leighton Meester), Douglas (Brad Garrett), Poppy (Kimrie Lewis) and Miggy (Jake Choi) are trying to find their place in the single parent world. Making it clear to Will that they aren’t about to be part of his clip-board vortex, they offer support with a little judgment attached.

Talking Will into dating to avoid volunteering for anything in the classroom, Angie and Miggy show up at his house only to discover it is all sadder than they could have possibly imagined. Working on his image for the date they’ve set up, Angie wants to scream and Miggy can’t get away fast enough. Douglas and Poppy try to figure out who has babysitting duties so the other can get out for the night.

Will’s date brings the law, Angie and Miggy come to the rescue as Poppy and Douglas want to help with shoe jokes and a few dollars. How does one get out of it all? Well, a little help from boldness, friendship, and a Hawaiian girl who has us asking ourselves How Far I’ll Go.

That will smash any vortex you got!

Killam as Will is just a man trying to raise his daughter with the hope that his memories of marriage don’t squash him totally. Keeping himself busy with being a classroom parent doesn’t go over well with other single parents. He thinks that perhaps finally there are friendships to be had but sure takes a hard trip to find that out. I like Killam’s character of Will and see how sweet he is in the midst of figuring out adulthood and parenting.

Meester as Angie is tough and mouthy which can be cool if you have friends that are tough and mouthy but a little cutting when it comes to Will. He doesn’t quite have the thick skin she does – or does she? Lewis as Poppy is raising a child that might just be a tad cooler than she is but she isn’t about to let that mess with her appearance of having it all together.

Choi as Miggy is a man who is learning all about life when you have a child. Those expensive shoes aren’t what life is all about but that doesn’t mean he isn’t going to pretend it all isn’t happening.

Garrett as Douglas has twin daughters who he teaches to be tough and if that doesn’t work – break out the Benjamin’s! He embraces his single life but the fact is that when it comes to friendship he might just be a bit softer than he wants to admit. I love Garrett in this role because he rolls his eyes a lot and yet embraces, in his own way, the role of a single dad of two very cool twin girls.

Other cast include Marlow Barkley as Sophie Cooper, Tyler Wladis as Graham, Devin Trey Campell as Rory, Mia Allan as Emma and Ella Allan as Amy.

Single Parents is a half hour look at the single life of parents by using comedy, caring, friendship, insanity, kids, love and all the things that life throws at them. I laughed from beginning to end and perhaps that’s because I understand every smart remark, every eye roll and every moment where you realize that being a single parent does have its moments worth smiling about.

The cast just seem to roll with the punches and are flawless together. The one-liners and zingers fly fast but each character also has a story to tell that explains who they are and how they are.

It is going to be fun to get to know them each as Garrett, Choi, Killam, Meester and Lewis give us a look into their world and that is going to make it easier to live in ours. There is nothing better than hearing the characters of the series say out loud what many of us think on a daily basis.

The kids – Barkley, Wladis, Campell and the Allan twins are going to give as good as they get and remind us all that dang kids are getting smarter and smarter. They have such unique personalities and I already love them all.

Beginning September 26^th, join a group that is a little bit off center and a lot funny with the new series Single Parents. Thanks for the laughs ABC!

In the end – we know them and we are gonna love them!