Raising Hope – Martha versus Cloris

I don’t know who’s funnier on Raising Hope, Martha Plimpton or Cloris Leachman, but I’m loving their performances more and more each week.

The premise of the show has shifted focus away from accepting Hope, the new baby, into the household and is concentrating more on the Chance family as a whole. I can see creator Greg Garcia‘s (My Name is Earl) voice coming through loud and clear. Like Earl, this show has the quick sarcastic banter, which sometimes pushes the line of good taste. But in a good way!

Martha Plimpton’s character (Virginia Chance) is like the glue that holds Raising Hope together. And she plays this uneducated cleaning lady sweet and sharp. On this week’s episode, I chortled all the way through the parts about family portraits past and present. How funny is it that his Mom makes Jimmy so nervous that he eats his own hair? Totally priceless! (I know we all have someone in our lives that makes us want to do that. Don’t deny it.)

As for Cloris Leachman, we just don’t get to see enough of her. Her character, Maw Maw, only appears periodically. And you never know what she’s going to do, or “which Maw Maw” she’s going to be, as her character has a form of dementia. When Maw Maw is lucid, she realizes that her crazy family that she hates is living in her house. When she’s in a fog, she mistakes her grandson Jimmy for her dead husband. Or actually believes she’s in labor. Or eats lipstick. All of this shouldn’t be funny, but it is.

Maw Maw also has a penchant for sitting around in her bra. Which also shouldn’t be funny, but is. I’ll let the cast explain it….

If you haven’t seen Raising Hope, I think you should give it a try. Especially if you miss Earl and Randy Hickey.

Clacked by Tara Shrodes
on Oct 13, 2010 @ 09:00 EST5EDT