Raising Hope

My Name Is Earl-verse continues with this brilliant warm-hearted show about a family dealing with the unexpected challenge of an unplanned baby that comes into their lives. You will see many callbacks and similarities to past shows combined into 4 seasons of good-natured hilarity.

The cast is terrific with leads Lucas Neff (Jimmy) and Shannon Woodward (Sabrina) being the will they won't they couple. Martha Plimpton (Virginia) and Garret Dillahunt (Burt) as the young simple uneducated parents to Lucas' Jimmy Chance character. We get flashbacks showing Burt and Virginia's early life raising a young Jimmy and the mistakes teenage parents make.

A shout-out needs to go to the late Cloris Leachman who played Maw Maw; the grandmother who raised Virginia as her own daughter but who now suffers from the onset of dementia. She plays this character with pure joy and hilarity with many of the shows comedic moments coming from her. I will say I'm sure the ridiculous Cancel Culture would come for this show over some whiny "my feeling are hurt on behalf of those suffering from dementia" garbage if this show was made today.

This, like My Name is Earl, was a show cut too soon from TV-land and was never able to fully conclude the way it should have in 3 or 4 more seasons. As long as it is able to will be put in my rotating lineup of comedy shows that I run through.