Critic Reviews

Thanks to the strength of an underserved audience of women just like her, she’s pulled up a chair to the table with “Leanne.” And, in the end, television as a whole, not only Netflix, benefits from that.

Morgan and Johnston bounce off each other with sarcastic banter and sisterly ribbing, a bit jarring at first, but their quirks quickly grow on you. Like any good sitcom, Leanne combines goofiness and sincerity to give a platform to w

As it is, Leanne is the TV equivalent of the friend who’s never gonna take you out for the craziest night of your life, but who can be relied upon to bring over a bottle of wine and settle into the couch for some cute anecdotes and an occasionally earnest bit of advice. In other words, it’s simply a nice hang.

I may not be the target audience for “Leanne,” but I found much to like in it, and suspect many Netflix subscribers will as well. To the extent that I chafed at some of its worldview, it was at the frequent comments on diet, weight and appearance, many of them directed at Morgan herself.

Every fourth or fifth joke has the air of having been hammered out on an anvil, and a few might have been better left in the smithery. Yet I like this show, in no small part but not entirely because I like Morgan

Forty minutes is a long setup, but the show gets better from there, welcoming in even an audience that may find Leanne’s suburban Tennessee foreign.

Like most Chuck Lorre sitcoms, Leanne needs to find its way for awhile, and there are moments during the first handful of episodes that feel as cliched and “sitcommy” as it gets. But the cast starts clicking pretty quickly, especially Morgan and Johnston, and that goes a long way to upping number of genuine laughs each episode has.

Morgan and Johnston are in almost every scene and have comedy chops that can overcome even the most defiantly second- and third-tier writing and reward your viewing investment with glimmers of merriment. It starts to take on a rosy hue. Are you entertained, or just glad that the first 22 minutes are safely past and need never be seen again? Who’s to say? Whatever is happening, it’s … sort of nice.

The whole thing is fine but thin. Morgan is sharper in her standup than she is here, which may be another casualty of the character’s emotional state. .... But the humor is generally good-natured (it comes late in the season, but there’s a joke about an armadillo that really got me), and the episodes are short and move swiftly, allowing them to slip by even when the plotting can’t keep up.

All very simple, “Leanne’ puts into play what Morgan describes on stage. The anecdotes wear well with others sharing the comedy but, too often, the star is left to reflect others’ glory.