With comedies like The Office, Scrubs, and Parks & Rec long over, it’s been a while since I could find a show that had the right mix of funny and endearing. However, I recently stumbled upon the Parker family of The Detour. The show, created by late night host Samantha Bee and male lead Jason Jones, follows the misadventures of the family of four on the run from the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).
Long story short, the Parkers are constantly on the lam because of mother Robin Parker’s (Natalie Zea) past fraud and smuggling crimes. Robin, who describes herself as “a bit of an asshole,” is wife to the always hilarious Nate Parker (Jason Jones). Nate reminds me of a cross between a very endearing Andy Bernard (The Office) type character with the intensity of a Rob Riggle. The chemistry between these characters is just explosive, sometimes literally. Instead of a will-they, won’t-they sitcom cliché, this is a married couple (or so we assume) that viewers find themselves rooting for. In fact, they may be one of my all time favorite couples in TV history. The raunchy comedy finds them often covered in blood or some other mess kissing each other like everything is normal. Robin is constantly getting an attitude with her husband and others on the show, and it’s a perfect situation watching Nate try to reel her in. We find that Nate has his breaking points too, as he is constantly in fights, getting injured, or performing some insane stunts.
The Parker twins bring a lot to the table as well. Jared “Jareb” Parker (Liam Carroll) is a bit of a dummy, yet he has a certain charisma about him. Delilah “Super Dee” Parker (Ashley Gerasimovich) has just as much attitude as her mom and just as much intensity as her dad. Be sure to check out her talent show song “It’s Fun Being Weird” on YouTube.
The show really has a ton of over the top spots that are simply hilarious. However, at its core the show really is about family. We follow the Parkers through NYC, Florida, Alaska, and even Cuba as they continue to evade being caught by USPIS agent Edie (Laura Benanti). Along the way, the family deals with kidnapping, food poisoning, and a lot of vehicular issues. The show is like a constant road trip with a somewhat dysfunctional family. Yet no matter the circumstance, the Parkers always persevere one way or another.
There are a few key things that I love about this show. There are a lot of inside jokes and one liners that carry on through the series that remind me of shows like Community. (Did I mention that the music choices are also very on point?) Also, I notice some political topics cleverly being addressed here and there, as again the show was created by Samantha Bee. But the main draw of this show is the perfect balance of family and comedy. Without giving too much away, there are a handful of times in the series where some of the issues the family encounter will really give you all of the feels. There’s some brilliance here.
The Detour is currently airing its third season on TBS. Be sure to tune into the network Tuesday nights at 10:30pm for new episodes or catch up with the show on Hulu. In the words of Nate Parker, “GET SOME!”
–Rob Crowther IV
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