It’s called the Estonian Method
Main Cast: Lake Bell, Dax Shepard
Creators: Lake Bell, Elizabeth Meriwether
It’s not news that I appreciate a good sitcom. For me, a good sitcom means good actors and characters. The premise is almost beside the point. And that’s precisely what we get in Bless This Mess.
Lake Bell and Dax Shepard star as Rio and Mike Levine-Young. Rio and Mike are a New York City couple, through and through. When Mike inherits a run-down farm in Nebraska, they decide that it’s time to ditch the rat race and try their hand at living off the land.
So, basically, it’s Green Acres. I don’t say that as an insult. The fish-out-of-water premise is one that stands the test of time, proving that we love to see the travails of people put of their element, trying something new. In this case it’s county fairs and chickens and trying to get Midwesterners to talk about their feelings.
Bless This Mess gives us exactly what an old concept needs – good performances and sharp writing to make its eccentric characters lovable instead of annoying. Okay, sometimes they’re a little annoying, but that’s part of their charm.
Joining Bell and Shepard is an excellent cast of supporting players. Ed Begley, Jr. is Rudy, who lives in the barn. Don’t ask – he just does. Pam Grier is Constance, who runs the general store and serves as sheriff of Bucksnort, Nebraska. Yep, they live in Bucksnort.
David Koechner (you’ll recognize him as Packer from The Office and Champ from Anchorman) and Lennon Parham are Beau and Kay Bowman, local bigshots and the Levine-Young’s new neighbors. Jim O’Heir (Jerry from Parks and Rec) is the local veterinarian and Nancy Lenehan is his wife. You will recognize every one of these actors. They’ve been around a long time and every one of them knows their way around a quirky character.
Bless This Mess is filled with quirky characters, of course. It’s part and parcel of the premise. Bucksnort is small and isolated and rural and filled with exaggerated Midwestern stereotypes and plenty of silliness.
The chemistry between Shepard and Bell (no relation to his IRL wife Kristen Bell) is a great combination of fun and awkward. The scripts are filled with rapid-fire dialogue between the two as they manage one disaster after another.
The whole production is filled with mishaps, misunderstandings, and general mayhem. It’s a little raunchy and a little wholesome, with the great ensemble cast filling in any soft spots in the overall premise.
Bless This Mess consists of a total of 26 episodes. In those episodes we get guest appearances from:
- Susie Essman
- Rita Moreno
- Marla Gibbs
- Edward James Olmos
- Martin Mull
- Geoffrey Owens
- Nicole Ritchie
The series was canceled in 2020 after two seasons despite a growing audience and good ratings. As much as I’d like to be hard on ABC, 2020 was a tough year for everyone. Maybe someday Bell and Shepard will revive the Levine-Youngs. I hope so. I want to see how their sorghum crop turns out.
Bless This Mess is currently streaming on Hulu and available to buy on Amazon.
Sue reads a lot, writes a lot, edits a lot, and loves a good craft. She was deemed “too picky” to proofread her children’s school papers and wears this as a badge of honor. She is also proud of her aggressively average knitting skills She is the Editorial Director at Silver Beacon Marketing and an aspiring Crazy Cat Lady.
Leave a Reply