‘The New Normal’ review: Gender confusion

There was joy on Tuesday night’s “The New Normal,” but there was also sadness. Why? It all depended on David and Bryan’s varying opinions as to whether or not they wanted a boy or a girl entering their crazy world.

So what ended up happening? The news was ultimately good for David, as he learned that all of his baseball-collecting over the past few years was for a reason. He is going to be the father for a boy! However, the conflict that came out of this was wonderful mostly in that it was so real: he did not want to disappoint his other half by expressing that he really wanted to have a girl, but you could still read the disappointment all over his face. To make matters worse, he was seemingly striking out whenever he did try to make a move to relate to the boys on the football team that David helps out with … at least until he found common ground with them by also giving them a way to express their creativity.

What ultimately made this one of the strongest episodes of “The New Normal” was effectively rather simple: not only was it funny, but it kept the story rather focused, and save for a small subplot involving Shania getting suspended for a controversial performance as Cher, it did not really deviate much or reinforce something on the show that we had seen already. What is really giving this show more potential than anything else, though, is that despite coming across as annoying in the pilot, Bryan is starting to become a likable and very human character that we want to get behind and root for. Just look at how he stretched himself this week beyond just what we had seen from him already.

What did you think about this episode as a whole? Be sure to share some of your thoughts below.