AMANDA Peet and Steve Zissis play characters with a platonic bond.
There are adult situations aplenty in HBO’s new comedy series “Togetherness,” which is about married spouses trying to rekindle old feelings, as well as the close friendship between a “loser” guy and a woman who’s out of his league.
Los Angeles-based spouses Mark and Michelle (Mark Duplass and Melanie Lynskey) confront the loss of intimacy. They are steadily raising two young children, but are discovering that things aren’t as thrilling as when they were a younger couple, so they attempt some experimentation to bring back the sparks.
Unconventional ways
Apart from their situation, they help out two people in desperate need of support: Tina (Amanda Peet) is Michelle’s recently single and heartbroken sister, and Alex (Steve Zissis) is Mark’s best buddy and a broke, unemployed actor. Both are now living in the family’s house as guests, until things settle and they’re able to move on and live elsewhere.
In the first three episodes of the show, which is created by Duplass, his brother Jay, and Zissis, the comedy is pretty sedate but typically adult. The “edgy” HBO qualities are inherent in the “realness” of the language and the sexual content.
Peet stands out as manic Tina, who sees the transformation of the out-of-shape and unsuccessful Alex as a mission she can accomplish. Tina has her unconventional ways of motivating Alex, including splashing water on his head to wake him up, and unashamedly taking off her top to make him pay attention.
Such bold moves don’t mean a thing to Tina, which pretty much makes Alex confused; his hopes of making the bond non-platonic are crushed by the third episode, when it becomes clear that she only has eyes for other, more attractive men.
The uncomplicated, familiar relationship tropes can be uninteresting on one hand but, on the other, it’s early into the series; “Togetherness” may still develop into a more exciting show, one really worth anticipating.
It’s standard grownup fare, but despite the less than unique or fresh approach to old themes, it manages to spin together a light, simple comedy that older viewers, whether married or not, can identify with.
(New episodes of “Togetherness” air Mondays, 10:30 p.m.)