April has been a dry month for our favorite lesbian characters on television. Pretty Little Liars is on hiatus until its second season drops in June, Glee has stepped back from the Santana / lesbian storyline likely until sweeps and Grey’s Anatomy has been on hold gearing up for the big Calzona wedding this May…
But while there’s a dearth of lesbians on TV this early spring there are several avowed gay women out there creating killer content for the web. And one of them is stand-up comic and actress Bridget McManus, who premiered her wry web comedy McManusland earlier this month.
A self-reflexive mockumentary style series, McManusland is part Parks and Recreation, with its purposeful pauses and asides to the camera, and part Curb Your Enthusiasm with Bridget’s hilariously cringe-inducing moments of pseudo self-awareness. But at the end of the day it’s really all Bridget with her cracker-jack comic command of the camera and her ability to appear fully without irony while ranting about something ridiculous.
Rife with smart snark McManusland is a web series for our time starring a comic and actress who is no stranger to the web having first made a mark with Brunch with Bridget and later That Time of the Month.
Airing exclusively on the wonderful Tello Films site, which features original web series including McManusland and Cowgirl Up among other projects, McManusland is executive produced by Bridget and Adriana Torres and directed by Torres.
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Whether the fame-hungry semi-fictitious Bridget of McManusland is attempting to channel Oprah’s media prowess as in the series’ premiere “I am Oprah,” creating a low-budget action flick with her friend Fortune Feimster in “Fat Action” or torturing her actress pal Kiva Jump over finding an agent in “Secret Agent” Bridget is the mistress of skewering fame -- often her own -- for laughs.
While McManusland is on the surface a witty social commentary on Hollywood and the new-found world of Celesbian-ism it is at its heart a family comedy--pets included--that feature’s Bridget’s wife Karman Kregloe, AfterEllen’s Editor in Chief, as the hilariously deadpan “straight” woman to Bridget’s outrageousness.
The series is worth tuning in to for Bridget’s hijinks and her terrific guest stars in Fortune and Kiva but it is really the moments between Bridget and Karman that galvanize the series as true comic genius. Great comedy occurs between two people who can only be so good because they know each other so well, and that shines through with Bridget and Karman. They may even prove to be the lesbian Lucy and Ricky for our generation.
McManusland is about to air the final episode in its first four-season series next week and I highly recommend subscribing to Tello for the completely reasonable cost of $3.99 – less than a box of tampons -- per month to catch up on McManusland as well as Cowgirl Up and to keep on top of Tello’s future projects.
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