I had the opportunity to screen the first episode of the new ABC sitcom, “Call Your Mother” starring Kyra Sedgwick as Jean, an empty-nester mom, who wonders how she ended up alone while her children live their best lives thousands of miles away.
Made by the same creators of ‘The New Adventures of Old Christine’, which I adored, this concept seems quite fresh since you don’t see too many sitcoms dealing with parents of adult children in this way. During the first episode, Kyra’s character is struggling with where she fits into her children’s lives, and even wonders if she is even still considered a mother now that her children no longer need her, and we get to see her wrestle with that.
After the premiere, we had the opportunity to speak with the Creator & Executive producer Kari Lizer, as well as Kyra Sedgwick (Jean Raines), Patrick Brammall (Danny), Emma Caymares (Celia), Joey Bragg (Freddie Raines), Rachel Sennott (Jackie Raines) and Austin Crute (Lane) who gave us a little insight into Call Your Mother. *Recurring Sherri Shepherd as Sharon.
The fact that the show has been filmed during Covid restrictions isn’t apparent in how the cast interacts with one another, the chemistry between all of them is tangible on-screen and during the Q&A I attended. I will say that the first episode is a little all over the place in that it seems that Kean (Kira) is super quick to leave her life to run to see if her son is okay because he hasn’t contacted her in 4 days. That being said, we do come to find that Jean is also a widower, kind of dark but it sets up the storyline even more and helps you get into where her mind is.
Kari Lizer and Kira are both mothers of grown children, so for them this all hits home and to that, they can offer more emotion into how someone would deal. Kira speaks of how she herself has to redefine her relationship with her kids as they grow older and this show delves into that dilemma.
As for the rest of the cast, my favorites were Celia the social media influencer girlfriend, and Lane the gay best friend. Both of these characters were funny enough to cut the Mom and kids’ tension but could also carry the entire scene themselves. Listening to both Emma Caymares and Austin Crute talk about their characters and how much they were similar to them in real life was interesting. They both give off such a measure of pride in who they are and how they would like to be portrayed on screen. The diversity of the cast is something that Lizer explains was deliberate.
I have to say that my most absolute favorite character is Danny’s dog, Ripper (Orbit).
Overall, as a Mother of one grown and one almost adult I can relate to this series. Did I like the first episode? I did, it was cute and I can see it getting better over time. I am looking forward to seeing where this one goes.
“Call Your Mother” premieres Wednesday, January 13th at 9:30 pm ET/PT on ABC.
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