The brand new Netflix laugher “Leanne” is … nice. The Chuck Lorre sitcom stars Leanne Morgan of the Netflix stand-up particular, “Leanne Morgan: I’m Each Lady.” Followers of that hour will discover lots of the identical themes and even among the identical jokes within the 16-episode first season, the primary eight of which Netflix made out there for critics to display.

When you preferred the stand-up, it’s in all probability due to Morgan’s voice–her distinctive and totally relatable takes on ageing, marriage, and parenting. That voice is in full impact in “Leanne,” which is why the collection works as typically because it does.

Being new to Morgan’s work, and never squarely in her demographic, it took me till the tip of the second episode to a lot as crack a smile. Forty minutes is an extended setup, however the present will get higher from there, welcoming in even an viewers which will discover Leanne’s suburban Tennessee overseas. A part of the preliminary downside is that Leanne and her fictional sister Carol (Kristen Johnston) open the collection in full ham mode, making ridiculous faces that aren’t sensible, endearing, or humorous. As we get to know them, although, their grimaces turn out to be much less distracting, simply a part of the present. It additionally helps that Leanne escapes the one-note of her jilted housewife character as she begins to discover and even get pleasure from her newfound freedom.

When you get on the wavelength of her present, Morgan has a variety of appeal and presence. And as soon as we’re by means of the setup within the preliminary episodes, the present will get underway with brisk jokes and set items, discovering humor in issues like folks of their late 50s getting excessive.

None of it is cutting-edge, however that’s OK. It has a comforting (even when typically overseas) really feel to it, and a powerful supporting solid bolsters Morgan’s typically self-conscious efficiency. Celia Weston and Blake Clark play her ageing dad and mom and invite us to affix in on the enjoyable of their kooky and crochety characters. Bringing his signature mixture of resignation and mischief, Ryan Stiles performs Leanne’s wayward husband and reverberates at simply the best frequency. Jayma Mays performs Leanne’s busybody neighbor (fellow church member and train class participant), delivering a by some means grounded and exaggerated efficiency concurrently. This trick achieves what Morgan and Johnston try from the get-go, however don’t at all times muster–a personality who is aware of what present she’s in and invitations people to snicker each with and at her.

I additionally respect Annie Gonzalez being there—she performs Leanne’s daughter-in-law, Nora. And whereas Gonzalez eats no matter materials she’s given (and this present is no exception), her character exposes among the issues with “Leanne.” You see, Nora is the nag, bringing down everybody’s good time by stating the issues with soccer (concussions!), for instance, and usually being a party-pooper. It doesn’t matter that she’s proper–the present is in opposition to her, portraying her husband as hen-pecked and trapped in a transfer that is each retrograde and unfunny.

Likewise, Morgan makes quite a few jokes about her physique, each within the sitcom and her stand-up. However whereas she radiates confidence on stage, undercutting her supposed insecurities, the identical is not true within the situational comedy. There, the fictional Leanne is introduced low by her worries about her physique, and so laughing at them feels not conspiratorial however someplace between fraught and merciless. As well as, these jokes about ageing (and the lack of magnificence that accompanies it) really feel drained. They’ve been executed, and with the We Do Not Care Club making headlines for its capturing of a brand new cultural zeitgeist, this sitcom had the chance to search out contemporary jokes about menopause. It doesn’t, consistent with its favoring a standard broadcast TV humorousness over taking any possibilities.

It’s no “Abbott Elementary” or “The Workplace” or “Rosanne.” I can’t think about it in any awards conversations. Nevertheless it’s not attempting to. Its objective is consolation TV, and “Leanne” principally achieves that. Bless its coronary heart.