SMILF

The show improved with each one. The premiere is tonally all over the place--it’s hard to know which of Bridgette’s mistakes are meant to be funny, and which speak of tragedy. ... But then, in episode three, Shaw seems to find her footing, and I found myself thinking that SMILF could develop a “Shameless”-like charm.

An intriguing yet contextually challenged new dramedy. ... There’s little about "SMILF" that distinguishes it from a raft of similar shows that have come and gone — and will keep coming and going.

Like some past Showtime comedies (“Happyish,” “Nurse Jackie”), SMILF has an unsteady tone, swerving from emotional realism to quirkiness to slapstick raunch to abrupt fantasy sequences, in roughly descending order of what works best. There’s a riffing, open-mic quality to the first three episodes, as if the show were still trying on personalities.

"SMILF" certainly has no shortage of ideas. ... What the show doesn’t consistently have in its first three episodes, however, is a sense of how to hone those stories, and make them both structurally sound and specific.

Shaw is likable and undoubtedly a selling point for the series, but unless the show finds its focus, it’s not going to be enough.

While there’s much to like about SMILF, its praiseworthy elements are pieces that fail to fall together into a cohesive whole.

Being gross, graphic and disagreeable has not kept Shameless from having a long run on Showtime. SMILF is in that vein, and perhaps also will find enough of an audience to sustain it. It’s hard to know what going to work anymore. But this one just doesn’t work for me.

Unfortunately, it’s not especially funny. It’s one dark, depressing look at a SMILF.

There’s a potentially great show lurking not far beneath the surface ... But every time the stronger version of the series gets its head above water, it gets shoved back down by a puzzling creative choice that left me wondering if it's worth waiting around to see if Shaw and company can achieve SMILF's full potential.