Bless This Mess S1-2

Married couple Rio (Lake Bell, who also created the show) and Mike (Dax Shepard) leave the hustle and bustle of New York City behind for a simpler life on a farm in Nebraska. But it’s not what they expected…

Their inherited farm is nothing like the photo – it’s run down, and as Mike says, “This will be a fun challenge”, they fall through the floor into the basement. And that’s just the start. Nothing will prepare you for the trouble they get themselves into.

The humour is dry. The script is smart. The six episodes rush by and you’ll be shouting, “More! Give me more!” And the cast has a couple of gems beside Dax and Lake. Pam Grier is her usual in-your-face loud as the local storekeeper and town sheriff, while Ed Begley Jr plays hilariously senile neighbour Rudy.

Caroline Framke from variety.com says that while “the show may live and die by how quickly the writers and cast can gel into dynamics, there’s no doubt that they’re game. Lake is a sharp writer and director. And in their one brief scene together, Begley and Grier instantly click into an oddball rhythm that almost steals the entire show.”