Great News is a comedy show new to Netflix. It takes a few episodes to find it's feet but it does eventually become less forced and more enjoyable to watch. It's from the same team that created 30 Rock i.e. Tracey Wigfield and produced by Tina Fey so it is packed out with funny one-liners and laugh out loud moments. It stars Briga Heelan as Katie Wendelson, a producer at The Breakdown, which is a daily news show. Katie's professional career has stalled so she decides to brave it out and demand juicier segments to produce. All is going great until her mother decides to join the show as an intern.
What ensures is comedic silliness but in a really sweet way. The plot lines are funny and the cast is stellar including Nicole Richie as Portia Scott-Griffith. Along with John Michael Higgins as Chuck Pierce, they anchor The Breakdown. Neither will be winning a Pulitzer any time soon but Richie is particularly hilarious as the more vacuous and celeb conscious of the two. Andrea Martin (The Good Fight) plays Carol Wendelson, Katie's mother who refuses to cut the apron strings but who's heart is in the right place. Her presence on the set of The Breakdown often leads to mayhem as she unwittingly keeps making her daughter's life more difficult. There is also a ‘will they won't they' element to the show between Katie and her boss Greg which is played out really well and gives the show a bit of romance to break up the comedy.
Originally an NBC production in the US, there are two seasons of Great News, though only the first is airing on Netflix. Unfortunately the show was cancelled after it's second season but hopes are high that with it's resurgence on Netflix, it may be picked up for a third season. I liked it and it is definitely bingeable and easy to watch. However, I didn't think it flowed as easily as some other comedies such as Life In Pieces or Arrested Development. That said if Netflix release season 2 I would still watch it.
