Review: Significant Mother (The CW) - Quite entertaining but overly reliant on sex jokes

Let’s first get this out of the way: Significant Mother is kind of dumb, sex-obsessed and immature. Actually, that is also a good description of two of the three main characters. The show revolves around Portland restaurateur Nate (Josh Zuckerman, 90210), who walks in on his mother (Krista Allen, Baywatch Hawaii) and his best friend Jimmy (Nathaniel Buzolic, The Vampire Diaries) in post-coital glow.

Understandably, Nate freaks out and is furious at both Jimmy and his mom. Throughout the course of the episode, and presumably the series, Nate keeps getting confronted with the two of them on top of each other in very little clothes which also don’t leave much to the imagination. In the meantime, the three have to deal with Nate’s previously disinterested father (Jonathan Silverman, Weekend At Bernie’s), who is suddenly jealous now that his ex-wife is dating a younger man.

The humor of Significant Mother, although actually quite entertaining at several points, is almost entirely based on variations of Nate walking in on his mother and Jimmy having sex, about to have sex or just having had sex. While the storyline tries to point out that this relationship is about much more than just the physical, the on-screen chemistry (or lack thereof) between the actors does not support that view. And the fact that having sex is basically all they ever do does not help either.

The show is targeted at the younger The CW audience, but if the network thinks that this is the wittiest that this audience can handle, they are grossly underestimating the demographic. But then again, because the most brainy joke the premiere had to offer was “His penis is like Anthony Bourdain; it has no reservations.”, I wonder how many people in the The CW audience actually know Anthony Bourdain.

Significant Mother airs on Mondays at 9:30/8:30c on The CW.