The World of New Parenthood with the 'Motherhoodlum'

It’s got to be so weird to be a parent.

One day, you’re an independent person with a schedule allotted with tasks essentially of your choosing.  And then someday, all of a sudden (even, I imagine, if it’s nine months of major bloating later), a tiny little human, with impossibly small hands and toes and ever-loose bowels, is your sole responsibility.  Your life begins and ends with all your energy focused on this pudgy creature and it’s your sole duty to see that it grows up to be amazing.

Seriously, WTF???

Along the same lines as the upcoming web-to-TV series In The Motherhood is Motherhoodlum, an online series documenting the foray into motherhood taken by new mom Emily (played by Emily Wagner, who co-created the show with sister-in-law Chelsea Gilmore).

Although there is a cast of supporting roles in Motherhoodlum (Shane Edleman plays a great Dad), most of the focus remains on Emily, whose blatant discomfort with her new role is the keystone to what makes the series enjoyable.  It’s hard to tell whether the show is loosely improvised (as so many series are these days), but whatever Wagner and Gilmore are doing, it’s working.

An especially funny episode is “My Man Nanny,” in which the script cleverly sidesteps the obvious joke that comes with the idea of a male babysitter, instead relying on the charm of its actors to achieve comic gold.

In a surprise exchange of roles, where interviewer Emily somehow becomes interviewee to prospective manny Howie, the beautifully-edited pregnant pauses and awkward glances re-enforce Motherhoodlum as a very funny show meant to be viewed by anyone, whether or not they have, want, or care about babies.

Where In The Motherhood comes off a tad too polished (and corporate sponsor-happy) Motherhoodlum does just the opposite: it taps into what is likely the real thing, and makes sure that parenthood isn’t all hugs and kisses, but it’s not simply sarcastic jabs, either.