What does it say about the new ABC sitcom American Housewife that it was originally titled The Second Fattest Housewife in Westport?
Does it mean the network brass got cold feet? Or maybe ABC simply got all the provocative publicity it needed, then pulled the ol' title switcheroo.
Whatever the reason, we'll find out if Katy Mixon makes us root for plump Katie Otto when the comedy debuts at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Viewers will know Mixon from her role as Victoria Flynn, Molly's plus-sized, pot-smoking, over-sexed sister on Mike and Molly. And by "plus-sized," I mean by Hollywood standards. Mixon may not be a size 2, but being "full-figured" hits closer to average than most of those we see on the tube.
Entertainment Weekly asked new ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey if the title change was an attempt to avoid offending people.
"What we love about the character is that she feels very universal and very relatable," Dungey said. "What we love about American Housewife is that it feels that it can speak for housewives from New York to Los Angeles, from Boise to Miami, so it feels very universal."
The series is set in the affluent New York suburb of Westport, Conn., where, according to the 2010 Census, the population is 92.6 percent white with a median family income of $193,540 and a median house price of $1.2 million.
The Ottos are renters in the sort of town, Katie says, "Where people have big houses and tiny butts."
That's the setting for Mixon's average wife and mother (and series narrator), who has to deal with the challenges in a town full of perfect mommies with "flat stomachs and stupid green drinks" and their perfect children.
Katie is confident, unapologetic and raising her three less-than-perfect kids the best she can.
"The only reason we're in this hoity-toity town is because Westport has a great public school with special programs for our Anna-Kat," Katie says. Anna-Kat needs help with her obsessive-compulsive disorder which, Katie notes, "is not Rain Man anxiety, but it's not in the family newsletter."
Youngest (and favorite) child Anna-Kat is played by Julia Butters (The Rusted); middle child Harrison, whose one goal is to be rich, is played by Daniel DiMaggio (A Tiger's Tail); and pretty teenage Taylor is portrayed by Meg Donnelly (The Sound of Music Live!).
Katie: "My full-time job is to make sure one of my kids fits in more and two fit in less."
Also on board is Diedrich Bader (The Drew Carey Show) as supportive, easygoing husband Greg.
Katie: "I know we shouldn't care about what other people think, but these women make me feel really bad about being fat."
Greg: "Sweetie ...."
Katie: "This is the part where you say I'm not fat!"
Greg: "You're not fat."
Katie: [Sweet smile]
And in an exchange with Suzanne, one of the pencil-thin neighbor mothers:
Suzanne: "Hiiii. You have something on the back of your shirt."
Katie: "It's pizza. I thought it came out in the wash."
Suzanne: "How'd you get a pizza stain on the back of your shirt?"
Katie: "I was either wearing it backwards when I ate the pizza, or I'm wearing it backwards now. [Glances inside the front and finds the tag.] Yeah, now."
Along for comic foils are Katie's gal pals and confidants, Angela (who's a lesbian), played by Broadway actress Carly Hughes, and Doris, played by Ali Wong (Are You There, Chelsea?). Having a black woman and an Asian/American as friends also allows the series to add a little color and diversity to the 92.6 percent of Westport.
Just to add another perspective, in its preview of the new fall season, the Parents Television Council labels American Housewife (like 2011's Suburgatory) as "another sitcom about the horrors of suburban life."
It says Katie is "obsessed with her weight and lack of social status despite having chosen to move her family to upscale Westport." She hates her neighbors "for their wealth, physiques and perceived cliquishness" and "resents the ease with which thin, attractive teen daughter Taylor fits in with her classmates."
The organization notes the comedy "contains a large amount of smug elitism, profanity and sexist toilet humor -- content inappropriate for younger viewers, continuing a disturbing trend in ABC's alleged 'family comedies' in recent years."
And in a bit of overt snarkiness, the watchdog outfit says the show "is premised on the assumption that suburban America is populated exclusively with shallow, narrow-minded individuals concerned solely with money, status and appearance -- completely unlike like the enlightened denizens of Hollywood."
Ouch.
You watch; you decide.
Style on 10/09/2016