Sprung

I had to pick up a new TV this weekend, and, because you can't just buy a dumb TV anymore, it came loaded with a bunch of streaming services. One of those services, Freevee, has a new series called Sprung that's one of the funnier things I've seen in a while.

Here's the premise: It's the early days of the pandemic, and three non-violent offenders are released from prison because of Covid. Two of them have nowhere to go, and the third one invites the other two to stay at his mom's house. The mom, played by Martha Plimpton (in what might be the best role of her long career), is a porch pirate, who envisions herself as the matriarch of a crime family made up of herself, her son, and her two new lodgers.

Sprung is not a subtle comedy. The acting is over the top, there's lots of physical comedy, including fart jokes and a scene with a squirrel in a vet's office that had me rewinding several times because I couldn't stop laughing, and the four main characters run the gamut from idiocy to kind of brilliant, but the show also has a heart. One of the characters fancies himself a Robin Hood-type, there's a few awkward attempts at romantic relationships, and some sweetness and light appears from some unexpected sources. The look and feel of the show is also right on the money, it reminded me of the dark humor of OITNB at times, and Weeds at others, and it's use of music is really interesting. It's kind of like the Three Stooges, plus one, get stoned and go on a crime spree.

I've got two thumbs, so I'm giving Sprung both of them in the up position. Check it out if you get the chance.