(We dont fight, Beau.
I bring something up, you shut me down, and thats the end of discussion.
Wait for it…] End of discussion.)
Credit: Greg Gayne/Netflix
The showrunners are Don Reo and Jim Patterson, also vets ofTwo and a Half Men.
The credits say Netflix.
Almost everything else screams CBS.
No Blue State liberal worldview, either; the state of mind onThe Ranchis a soft, sunset red.
Scenes run longer than the usual sitcom, not to milk jokes, but to find the emotion.
Episodes run a few minutes longer, too, in service of resonant stories.
(Netflix shows often veer flabby, but you dont feel the fat here.
)The Ranchis far from great.
Kutcher is Colt Bennett, once a high school golden boy, now a peripatetic wastrel.
Its The Prodigal Son, minus the all-forgiving paterfamilias and the dutiful older sibling, at least to start.
Most of that flailing involves the Bennett mens relationships with women.
Less surprising is Colts love life.
Rooster gets a significant other, too.
I wont spoil her identity, but it could wind up being the most interesting relationship on the show.
The Ranchgives us a place unlike any other in the realm of studio-based, multi-cam sitcom.
Yes, the set is blatantly artificial, but its meticulously dressed and smartly lit and engages the imagination.
ButThe Ranchcould use more realism all the same.
Its Red State rural in the most generic, mass market, and not-provocative of ways.
The more true grit it can get into this Cracker Barrel, the better.
Still: Ill watch more.
I want to know where Beau and Maggie will land.
I also thinkThe Ranchrepresents something worth nurturing and replicating.
The old school multi-cam format may not be the way forward.
But today, its a refreshing change of pace that offers some modest but meaningful rewards.
Maybe tomorrow, itll offer even more.B-
