Leanne review – you can't help but love the star of this terribly written, joke-free sitcom
It is best to be upfront about these things and say that the opening episode is bad. Worse than you've just assumed when I said 'bad.' Gone is the lightness of touch, the consummate ease, the subtly immaculate timing of her stage show; instead, we have a leaden script punctuated by a desperate laughter track, and a one-note performance by Morgan as 'Leanne', a menopausal woman closing in on 60, whose husband, Bill (Ryan Stiles), has just run off with a younger woman after 33 years of what his wife had thought was a perfectly happy marriage.
Rounding out what is shaping up to be a 16-episode car crash between derivative sit and vanishingly little com are a set of stock family members. There is son Tyler (Graham Rogers), adored by his mother, henpecked by his wife; deadbeat daughter Josie (Hannah Pilkes), forever drunk/high and/or wondering whether she's pregnant, and ageing parents Daddy John (Blake Clark), ornery and tough, and Mama Margaret (Celia Weston), sweet and frail. Then there's twice-divorced, pill-popping sister Carol, played by the usually glorious Kristen Johnston, who here spends 22 minutes reduced to constant gurning in the absence of any actual jokes to deliver. When a perky neighbour at church tells her 'I'm basking in the sunshine of our saviour!', Johnston distends her face to its not-inconsiderable maximum as she replies: 'Working on a melanoma, good.' Well, you've got to do something. God, who'd be an actor?
There are a few stabs at pathos – Bill says he will still be around 'for the important stuff', Leanne replies 'I thought I was the important stuff' – more lines where the intended comedic effect is revealed only by the laughter track, and then it is, mercifully, over.
If you can get past this initial horror, however, things get better. Partly, I think, genuinely and quantifiably. The actors find a rhythm, the strain on everyone involved becomes less apparent and the jokes become recognisable as jokes. Not good jokes, not ones I would quote here, confident that they could survive the transition to print, but keep in mind that at one point in the first episode the exchange 'You can't keep a secret', 'Watch me!' was scored as such, so we are working within the narrowest margins here.
And once your expectations are suitably lowered, it takes on a charm of its own. The colours are bright. The multi-camera format reminds you of happier, simpler times from your youth. 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. Will Carol drag her sister out on a disastrous date night before she's ready? Why, yes, yes she will. Leanne ruins the vibe by showing the guy pictures of her beloved grandson ('Named after his granddaddy, who may rot in hell!'). Did you see the second half of that line coming? Of course you did. But now it's kind of comforting instead of eye-rollingly inadequate when it arrives, no? Let's just try one more episode and see if it gets a little better after this one, too. I think it does! Or is my brain melting? And does it matter? I feel happy. I am happy.
All of which is to say – I've no idea what star rating to give this thing. One? Or five? Perhaps I should average it out to three, even though it feels overall like a two? But Leanne – or 'Leanne' – is doing her best! And she's so good in her special! And I'm so glad she's out there, flying the flag for older women! And I love her accent. That may be what is casting most of the spell, now that I think about it. So be it. Two stars for the show, one for the honeyed drawl. There you go.
Leanne is on Netflix
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The Sun
27 minutes ago
- The Sun
How brutal Hells Angel leader led gang in deadly riots, rape & rock gig killing…as ex-wife opens up on savage beating
THE roar of Harley-Davidsons and stench of petrol was all it took to announce the Hells Angels were in town. And leading the pack of leather-clad outlaws for decades was hardman Sonny Barger, whose name struck fear into the hearts of even the toughest of bikers. 14 14 As California became gripped with drug-fuelled mania and political instability, Sonny was the man at the head of a group that left a trail of violence everywhere they went. From leading deadly riots, running drugs, and even threatening Keith Richards with a gun, it's little surprise that Sonny and his crew were dubbed 'vikings on acid'. Many now romanticise him as a legend - but the truth is that he presided over a group that carried out gang rapes of teenagers and that committed twisted acts of cruelty without blinking an eye. And ex-wife Noel Black, who says Barger was an "old school charmer" when they met, soon saw his violent side. 'After the first ass kicking, I should have left,' she says. 'He didn't kill me, but I should have just ran.' Now, the life and times of Sonny Barger is told by those who knew him in the documentary Secrets of the Hells Angels, airing tonight on Channel 4. Four months after he was born in 1938, his mother ran off with a bus driver and he was raised by his alcoholic father and sister in the rough port district of Oakland, California. School was attended just to pick fights with his fellow classmates, and at 16 he was expelled for hitting a teacher with a baseball bat. Then he tried the army - but after forging his birth certificate so he could join without parental permission, he was given an honourable discharge just 18 months later. Instead he joined a bike club, popular with other ex-military men, named the Oakland Panthers. Bloodsoaked world of UK's Hells Angels as Mafia-style bikers drag bodies of rivals down streets and stash rocket launchers & uzis for war 'I needed a second family,' Sonny wrote in his autobiography about this time. 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Fights broke out, the bikers beat the crowd with pool cues, and one frightened fan - Meredith Hunter - was knifed to death with the assailant, Alan Passaro, getting away with it on grounds of self-defence. '[They] were out of it on bad acid and cheap wine, and they were just looking for trouble,' remembered Keith Richards. 'Somebody knocked their bikes over and the next minute this black kid got scared, pulls a gun, and they did him'. To many, it was the day that the peace of love of the 1960s died. Sonny and his bikers for their part blamed the Stones for coming on late And not even being a member of one of the biggest bands in the world would keep you safe from Sonny's wrath. 'I stood next to him and stuck my pistol into his side and told him to start playing his guitar, or he was dead', Sonny remembered. 'Altamont may have been some big catastrophe to the hippies, but it was just another Hells Angels event to me.' 14 Misogynistic violence Though the Angels were a lawless rabble, they maintained a strict code of honour within themselves. Disloyalty meant death - as Paul 'German' Ingalls found out in 1968. After being found guilty of stealing Sonny's valuable coin collection by an internal Hells Angels 'court', Ingalls was forced to consume barbiturates until he suffered an overdose. Equally brutal were the Hells Angels' sexual crimes, with wives and girlfriends seen as the 'property' of the men. Sonny's first wife, Elsie Mae, had died of an embolism in 1967 after a (then illegal) abortion, and he split with his second wife, Sharon, in 1996. Three years later he married Beth Noel Black, but this came to an end in 2003 after Sonny attacked her so ferociously she found herself hospitalised. 14 14 14 14 'I loved Sonny so much, but marriages sometimes are bad, and sometimes if you hang around tough people things happen to you,' she said. 'He would get aggressive with it. After the first ass kicking, I should have left.' During one outburst, Sonny kicked her in the back, causing it to break in three places and leaving her with a lacerated spleen. He called 911, and can be heard admitting that he had beaten his wife her so badly she was "paralysed and cannot move". He claimed she had pulled a gun on him, in a row over a mistress, but despite being convicted for aggravated assault he spent only eight days in jail for this crime. Justice served Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, Sonny and his Hells Angels had a complicated relationship with the police as they expanded the club into an international organisation. In 1972, Oakland sergeant Ted Hilliard testified that he had accepted guns, dynamite and grenades from Sonny in return for the release of Hells Angels members from prison, as the police wished to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Black Panthers and Marxist groups. Sonny was keen to go further - offering 'to deliver the bagged body of a leftist for every Angel released from jail' - but this was refused. By now, Sonny had developed a serious cocaine addiction and funded this by selling heroin, and Hells Angels chapters around the country practically controlled the entire market for meth. When police raided his home in December 1972, they found eight guns throughout his house and even a human skull on his dresser that to this day remains unidentified. He was finally convicted in 1973 for possession of heroin and firearms. 14 14 Sentenced to ten years, he served only four and a half, running the Hells Angels from his cell and marrying his second wife, Sharon, there. Thanks to his habit of smoking three packs of cigarettes a day, Sonny contracted throat cancer in 1983. This led him to become a public anti-smoking advocate, even saying: "Want to be a rebel? Don't smoke as the rest of the world." Having his vocal cords removed didn't stop him from being convicted in 1988 for conspiring to blow up the clubhouse of rival club the Outlaws, though he insisted he was merely the victim of entrapment by the FBI. In total, Sonny spent 13 years in prison throughout his life. By the 2000s, he had stepped away from his public leadership of the gang, though in 2002 he tried to organise a peace conference when warfare between the Hells Angels and Mongols gang exploded. However, this conference was cancelled after a mass riot in Laughlin, Nevada, between bitter rivals left three dead and dozens injured. Hells Angels members swarmed a casino, with CCTV capturing the moment bullets whizzed around slot machines. 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The Guardian
27 minutes ago
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Rosie O'Donnell: Common Knowledge review – sentimental sermon with a self-mocking edge
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Daily Mail
27 minutes ago
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Meghan Markle's Suits BFF Abigail Spencer posts gushing tribute to the Duchess on her 44th birthday - and praises her as 'champagne in human form'
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The Duchess played Rachel Zane - a paralegal who later became an attorney - in the series and Abigail was cast as lawyer Dana Scott. In an interview with Hello! earlier this year, Abigail said the pair have a 'private a friendship'. Discussing her friend's Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, Abigail said she was happy that the mother-of-two could show off her 'natural' self doing what she loves - hosting her friends and family at her rented £5million reality TV mansion. 'Meghan is the hostess with the most. Literally for years she has been like this,' she said. 'But I really was there just to support her and surround her. This is her heart, that show is her heart, it was so natural and [I was] really just there to have fun and to delight in her and to be a safe space. 'We have a very private friendship, so choosing to let people in on part of that is… it's very private but I'm glad that we got to share a little bit of it.' 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The Duchess launched her lifestyle brand As ever earlier this year, releasing the first products in April, which included a range of teas, a raspberry spread, and a limited-edition wildflower honey with honeycomb, amongst other things. She followed it up with an apricot spread and another honey, and in July, she expanded into the world of alcohol when she dropped her own wine - the 2023 Napa Valley Rosé. Each release has been met with fierce excitement from her fans, and every product has sold out pretty quickly. Now, the Duchess of Sussex 's brand has announced its newest product... but it might not garner the same amount of enthusiasm since it's not very different from her last item. The company revealed on Wednesday that following the buzz surrounding the 2023 Napa Valley Rosé, it will be launching another wine, with a slight tweak - calling it the 2024 Napa Valley Rosé. And it vowed that it will pretty much taste the same as As Ever's first wine. 'It marries the same harmony of notes from our first blend and creates an elegant medley of delicate yet memorable flavor,' reads a press release. 'You'll want to clink glasses with friends as the sun sets, toasting to a summer of joy. 'Barefoot or in sandals, dressed up or dressed down, this rosé may become your favorite accessory for alfresco lunches and dinners at dusk.' Meghan described her new bottles as 'goodness in a glass' In the release, As Ever listed some of the positive feedback customers had given the company over its first rosé, which included comments like, '10 out of 10,' 'perfect,' and 'elevated flavor'. 'This affirmed all of the love, time and effort our team, and our founder, poured into curating this blend to evoke the sun drenched spirit of Napa Valley, and the breathtaking tenor of the California Coast,' As Ever added. 'Thank you for filling our cup. Now it's time for us to fill your glass! We are pleased to share that our 2024 Napa Valley Rosé will be available for purchase next week.' The brand also posted to Instagram with a series of images showing the new wine resting in beach sand. It was uploaded alongside a caption that read: 'Oh, how we love seeing the world through rose colored glasses. Rosé colored glasses? Perhaps even better. 'Our new vintage of As Ever's beloved rosé is available next week. The 2023 Napa Valley Rosé is described on the bottle as a 'delicately balanced rosé with soft notes of stone fruit, gentle minerality, and a lasting finish' 'Stay tuned for more details and timing.' As Ever's first wine went on sale on July 1 and sold out within the hour. Customers were able to purchase three bottles for $90, six bottles for $159, and 12 bottles for $300. Last month, Daily Mail exclusively revealed that the alcoholic beverage is made by Fairwinds Estate, a California winery that creates bespoke wines for celebrities. The 2023 Napa Valley Rosé is described on the bottle as a 'delicately balanced rosé with soft notes of stone fruit, gentle minerality, and a lasting finish.' It has a 14.5 percent alcohol by volume for the 750ML bottle. The Daily Mail FEMAIL team tried the rosé and while the wine was smooth, we couldn't easily detect the notes of stone fruit. In fact, it tasted quite bland, and almost water-y. In addition, the rosé had some acidic notes, leaving a somewhat uncomfortable sensation at the back of our throats after swallowing. In the end, the verdict was the wine lacked flavor and tasted affordable and ordinary. It wasn't terrible - but it certainly wasn't great. We felt the rosé just didn't taste like you bought it at a fancy vineyard, where it's supposed to be made, but rather, like a wine you would be served at a work happy hour. The FEMAIL team also reviewed her initial set of products, and found that Meghan's raspberry spread was too thin, too sweet, and very runny. Her hibiscus tea was extremely bitter with heavy notes of floral, with one taste tester comparing it to 'drinking lip balm.' 'It tasted like dirty dishwater,' another FEMAIL writer shared. Some of us couldn't even bear to swallow it, as one person even spat it back into the cup. As for her honey, we didn't enjoy the 'waxy' taste of the honeycomb or the super strong wildflower aftertaste.
