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A middle-aged protagonist’s expectations of growing old in comfort and style with his rich and handsome partner in a The tasteful Manhattan’s gorgeous apartment is shattered beyond measure when this partner makes an abrupt exit. Dazed and devastated, the childless protagonist turns to a couple of longtime friends for support, as well as a prickly new friend attached to a major real estate deal. A lively but sassy co-worker encourages the protagonist to figure out the next chapter of his life, while shots of a clean, casually plutocratic New York, set to a jaunty, jazzy score, suggest that the post-40s may be much more than worrying in front of a mirror.
This is the story of 50-year-old Carrie Bradshaw in “And Just Like That…”, the sequel series “Sex and the City” that premiered last year. It’s also the plight of Neil Patrick Harris’ Michael Lawson in “Uncoupled,” Netflix’s charmless new comedy from Jeffrey Richman and Darren Star, the latter of whom created the iconic HBO show (and later ceded control creative to Michael Patrick King).
Like Carrie, Michael has to start over unexpectedly after years of settling down, though in his case it’s because his boyfriend, Colin (Tuc Watkins), is leaving after 17 years together without any explanation. For most of the season’s eight episodes, Colin remains a cipher (though it’s not as if any of the other characters expand).
Coming out as a gay man in your late 40s is a nightmare, Michael complains, especially when hookup culture has changed so much since the mid-2000s; an entire episode is devoted to the rules and customs of Grindr. But the real estate agent doesn’t get much sympathy from his wealthiest client, Claire (Marcia Gay Harden, seemingly poised to become a country diva through over-the-top deliveries). In the middle of a divorce from a doting husband, a self-pitying Claire challenges Michael to compare her situation to his, and he’s happy to oblige.
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Star’s characters have tended to age with him. The former prodigy behind “Beverly Hills, 90210” followed up “Sex and the City” with “Younger,” the irrepressible romantic comedy starring Sutton Foster as a 40-year-old woman posing as a 20-year-old when no one will hire. her for entry-level work, and “Emily in Paris,” the weightless but compulsively watchable girl fantasy in which Lily Collins’ titular wit is never as interesting or charismatic as her average French counterparts age
One might expect, then, that Star’s latest show offers insight into the aging process, especially considering it’s the gay TV auteur’s first series with a gay male lead. But “Uncoupled” is flat, joyless and surprisingly cold-looking. Star’s best shows, like “Sex and the City” and “Younger,” are often casting triumphs, but it’s hard not to get the feeling that Harris, so heartbreaking in her recent turn in the HBO Max AIDS drama ” It’s a Sin” — is substantially miscast, seemingly handcuffed by the demands of broad appeal. The actor is at his most inventive in roles that evince authority, such as the maniacal, maniacal Barney Stinson in “How I Met Your Mother.” Like the perplexed and adrift Michael, who doesn’t know how he should do it feeling like the remnants of someone else’s midlife crisis, Harris seems less secure, more stuck in his head.
Although it takes a couple of episodes to get there, the actor does evoke a playful spark with Tisha Campbell, who plays his officemate, Suzanne. But it’s not until the final episode that Suzanne and Michael’s friends, libertine weatherman Billy (Emerson Brooks) and hanging art dealer Stanley (Brooks Ashmanskas), counterparts to Samantha and Charlotte, respectively, get significant development of the character
However, what the show lacks most, especially considering its fatalistic air, are moments of emotional foundation. There are a few scattered ones, the most poignant being Claire’s loss of her friends after the divorce as they decide to side with her much wealthier husband. “Uncoupled” tries to balance its aspirations with sexual frankness, but the perfectly chiseled, hairless bodies on display also undercut that effort.
If “And Just Like That…” made the middle-aged woman seem like a long slog, “Uncoupled” doesn’t have much to add from a gay man’s perspective, despite the small representational milestone it achieves. Perhaps it’s fitting, then, that it mostly makes you nostalgic for Star’s earlier work.
uncoupled (eight episodes) is streaming on Netflix.