If You Need Some Humor Post-Election Results, Watch the Real O’Neals

I found this show a couple of weeks ago, and I loved it. It’s really funny, and really different.

The story revolves around an Irish Catholic family that’s not quite as perfect as it seems. By the end of the pilot, we discover that Kenny, the middle child, is gay, and afraid to come out to his mother. Jimmy, the oldest, is not your average trouble-making jock: he’s anorexic. Shannon, the youngest, is definitely no saint: she’s been using the money she collected for charity to buy a car.

Oddly enough, I’m halfway through the first season, and they pretty much ignore Jimmy’s anorexia after the first episode, in which Eileen, Jimmy’s mom, convinces him to eat by making Jesus-shaped pancakes. Are we to assume that this miraculously cured his anorexia permanently? I don’t know.

Shannon’s character is also a trifle inconsistent. Stealing money meant for charity is kind of a Terrible Person Thing to do, but she turns out to be no more sneaky than your average fourteen year old.

Still, the show is worth watching if only for Kenny, played to perfection by Noah Galvin. He has such an expressive face, and that adds so much dimension to his character. Kenny O’Neal seems real enough to run into at a craft store. (That’s a reference you’ll get once you start watching the show.)

So if you need a distraction from the depressing reality thrust upon you, try this! (I pride myself on the positive note I ended on there. I used an exclamation point, and everything. Look at how far I’ve come from sobbing into a pillow.)

Image Credit: zoolomedia.com