Showtime certainly has a knack for attracting great talent these days.  The once supreme HBO is off chasing wind mills while Showtime continues to pump out some of the best original programming on on cable.  Showtime's newest endeavor comes from the mind of Diablo Cody, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Juno, and Steven Spielberg who is serving as executive producer.  Showtime has given us common folk a sneak peek of the pilot on their website and I thought I'd put my two cents in as to whether this show is up to par with Showtime's other great programming

The United States of Tara stars Toni Collette as, Tara, a mother of two who suffers from dissociative identity disorder, more commonly referred to as multiple personalities.  Everyone's favorite boyfriend from Sex and the City, John Corbett, plays Tara's supportive and understanding husband who manages the different personalities with a grain of salt.  Mad Men's Rosemarie DeWitt plays Tara's "cougar" sister who seems to have more than just friendly feelings for Tara's husband.  It's only the first episode so the majority of the episode spends time establishing Tara's characters as opposed to giving us a story of any sort.

Most pilots are a little rough and The United States of Tara isn't a pleasant exception.  Tonally, the show is a little all over the place not really knowing whether it wants to be a dry family dramedy or a cartoonish sitcom.  I'm typically a big fan of Toni Colette but I couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed for the fantastic actress as she portrays some truly one dimensional stereo types.  One of her personalities, know simply as T., is a teenage slut who smokes weed and always has her thong half way up her back.  While it may sound silly to have Toni Colette act as a jester, it's hard to connect with any of her personalities besides Tara, her true identity.  Buck, the other personality we're introduced to, is a hick who smokes constantly and calls her/his son a faggot.  It sounds fun but when it all comes together on screen it kept me at arms length and I had trouble swallowing the ridiculous nature of the premise.

You know those people who thought Juno was too clever for it's own good?  I'm one of them.  While I didn't find the dialogue nearly as distracting in The United States of Tara, it definitely has Diablo Cody's sensibility.  People are called "slut muffins," and a fight between Tara's daughter, Kate, and her douche baggy boyfriend contained some truly eye rolling moments.  I don't think everything on television needs to sound true to life.  Both Joss Whedon and Aaron Sorkin have made careers with a unique tone and rhythm that is a little hyper real and stylized, but at times it feels like Cody is infusing too much of herself.  It's distracting when the actors sound more like Diablo Cody than they do the characters they are playing.  However, there are some nice moments between John Corbett and the real Tara that had me convinced the show has some real promise and heart.

This is only the pilot and I've seen much worse first episodes to series I've ended up loving.  Weeds comes to mind, which has one of the worst pilots ever.  It's a bit of a bumpy start but I think there are seeds of ideas that could eventually become something great.  John Corbett is hands down the most engaging aspect of the series and I'll continue watching the series for him alone.  If you enjoyed Juno then you may enjoy this, but for those of us who spent most of the film hating Juno for trashing Sonic Youth, you may find all your ill feelings reinforced.  The United States of Tara has a way to go.

2/5

So say we all.