Uncoupled

 

Netflix's latest rom-com, Uncoupled, which was created by Sex and the City's Darren Star and Modern Family's Jeffrey Richman, is not well-served by its elevator-pitch summation -- forty-something gay man in New York finds himself newly single when his longtime companion moves out unexpectedly. While that premise promises some great cringe comedy, the show's quieter moments are where the gold is.

The series stars Neil Patrick Harris, who is approaching 50 and has been acting for 34 years, and Tisha Campbell, who might be best known as Gina on Martin Lawrence's Martin, as partners and besties in a Manhattan real estate brokerage waging battle over palatial condos with terraces and pied-a-terres with views of the park.

Harris's Michael discovers his companion, Colin, played by Tuc Watkins, has moved out of their apartment without explanation on Colin's 50th birthday, just before an elaborate surprise party concocted by Michael.

As the series progresses it becomes apparent to everyone except Michael why Colin left. And it is the slow realization of his own myopic toxicity, that is the show's true revelation -- not how dating has changed in the 17 years Michael has been out of circulation. While that aspect of the series contains most of its humor -- and it can be howlingly funny -- the show's true wisdom is in Michael's discomfiture at being so egregiously lacking in personal awareness.