Modern Family. American Housewife. Black-ish. There are plenty of comedies out there about raising children. None of them, however, are quite like FX’s Breeders. FX has a history of making raunchy comedies that warrant a ‘Mature’ rating, and this one fits that bill.
Breeders stars Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard as two parents who are struggling to raise two children under the age of seven, while also juggling full-time careers, aging parents, a mortgage and did I mention two kids under the age of seven?
The series doesn’t take long to get to the Mature-rated comedy as Paul (Freeman) attempts to reason with his children as opposed to yelling at them, but ends up cursing them out instead. The nice thing about Breeders is it lets you know what it is very quickly. If you don’t find Martin Freeman screaming profanities at his children to be funny, you’re probably not going to enjoy this show.
Much of the show actually plays like a family drama, with very serious undertones and a darkness about it. However, you never go too long without a laugh. In fact, the dramatic tones just bring you more closely into the story so that you get invested in the characters before they hit you with the next ridiculous scenario they have to deal with.
The first episode is titled “No Sleep” and it focuses on Paul and Ally (Haggard) trying to get their kids to sleep, with frequent flashbacks providing context as to how their lives got to where they are. Luke, the older of the two children, has a newfound fear of fire that is keeping him awake and Paul struggles to get him to work past it.
As you might expect, Freeman is fantastic, balancing both drama and comedy as he has become known to do so well. He is matched though by Haggard, whose dry comedic delivery is the perfect compliment to Freeman’s over the top antics. The children (played by George Wakeman and Jayda Eyles) are also hilarious and will actually have you wanting to pull your hair out.
While much of the show’s first episode is bouncing back and forth between serious discussions about their lives and the parents being repeatedly put in hilarious situations, it does slowly build an epic finale joke, the likes of which have likely only been seen on something like Modern Family.
Still, if you don’t find that dark, dry and fairly obscene sense of humor to be your thing Breeders might not click for you. It’s certainly not one of those feel good comedies like the ones listed above and it’s not in your face with nonstop laughs. It is however, a hilarious look into the trials and tribulations of parenthood and one that feels almost frighteningly realistic.
The first episode of Breeders is streaming now as part of FX on Hulu with new episodes airing each Monday on FX.