Fun on the Bayou

My reviews of Star Trek: Discovery have given me occasions to praise the dry humor of Tig Notaro. Now I get to do so again, for a television series she made years before Star Trek came calling -- One Mississippi.

Notaro made this series based on her own life, playing the character "Tig Bavaro," a radio host who returns home to Mississippi to deal with the death of her mother -- while still recovering from a recent bout with cancer. In Mississippi, she butts heads with her persnickety stepfather, continues her strange music-meets-confessional radio show, and develops feelings for a producer at the local radio station.

Tig Notaro has always put her life into her stand-up act -- and anyone who has seen her recorded specials will be familiar with the details. Still, it feels fresh to see that material packaged here into a half-hour sitcom-like format. I say "like" because it's not entirely clear whether comedy is the main objective of the show. It certainly has funny moments, many of them being Notaro tossing off a dry one-liner. But it isn't packing jokes in like many modern comedies.

Story is supreme here -- which you might expect more if you know the work of the writer who Notaro developed the show with: Diablo Cody. And so the show has a lot to say about grieving, coming out, child abuse, and more. No, it doesn't sound like a comedy. Yet the show does manage to give serious time to all these ideas without ever being dragged down long into seriousness by them. This is what you get in Notaro starring in a show about her own life -- there's plenty of light mingled with the dark.

The supporting cast is strong, particularly John Rothman as stepfather Bill, who manages to generate empathy despite playing a character determined to bottle up emotion. Noah Harpster plays Tig's brother Remy, and the two have an authentic-feeling sibling rapport/rivalry. Notaro's real-life wife Stephanie Allynne plays her prospective love interest in the series, perhaps spoiling the ultimate direction of that story, but also bringing some real-world chemistry to the relationship that is truly enjoyable.

The show ran just two seasons of six episodes each. While it does feel in the end as though it could have kept going perhaps one more, it also reaches a satisfying enough conclusion. Both seasons feel distinct, with the first focused much more on Tig herself, and the second opening up more interesting story lines for her brother and stepfather.

One Mississippi was never really on the top of my television viewing agenda -- I think I'd grade the series overall a B. (Which is plenty good; but we're in a time where it feels like even better shows abound.) Yet now that I've finished it, I feel its absence since there's really nothing else quite like it. Half-hour shows that are somewhat serious are rare enough. Comedies with the bravery to take on such heavy topics are more rare still. If you have an Amazon Prime subscription, perhaps One Mississippi is something you'd like to check out.