When we found out that The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men co-creator Chuck Lorre was jumping over to Netflix with Kathy Bates for the marijuana-laced comedy series Disjointed, our interest was -- please excuse this -- pretty high. And now that the show has released its first trailer ahead of the Season 1 bow later this month, we're no longer sure WTF is going on anymore, and it's got nothing to do with weed, we swear. Check it out for yourself.
It's never good to judge a book by its cover, -- or a joint by its roller, in this case -- but this trailer is something else entirely. Disjointed stars Kathy Bates as Ruth Whitefeather Feldman, a widely known partaker in marijuana usage who runs a dispensary in Los Angeles. To keep the business afloat, Ruth hires her own son, who is newly graduated and entering the "real world" in a way that's bound to get uncomfortable at times. Although possibly not in ways that audiences are used to from sitcoms.
After all, Disjointed looks like it'll be employing a feast of smoke-fueled dream sequences that add some very unique comedic flair to each episode. I'm definitely intrigued by that animated battle happening inside the refrigerator -- please let there be a California Raisins joke in there somewhere -- and there's even some old school cowboys toking, but I bet the Marlboro Man never even saw a bong that big. And who can deny the bizarreness of watching those old "dancing cigarettes" commercials getting spoofed. (I'm not sure I understand this man's particular fetish, however.)
Ruth's son Travis, played by Mozart in the Jungle recurrer Aaron Moten, appears to be the more goal-oriented member of the bunch, even if he's also prone to diving into daydreams about being rich. (And whoever had "Walmart reference" on their bingo cards wins the day.) It's hard to say what any of the other characters are really like, although it's clear that Tone Bell's Carter is a bit of a Star Wars fan. Or, at least a fan of impersonating Yoda, which I admit can be mutually exclusive from fandom.
Disjointed is Netflix's latest series to utilize the laughter of a studio audience to pepper the jokes, and though it's awkwardly realized here due to how the trailer is edited, I don't think it will feel quite as out of place as it occasionally does on The Ranch. Oddly enough, I think that's because the overall tone and weed humor really brings to mind That 70s Show, which starred The Ranch's Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson. If that means appearances from Tommy Chong, I'm all for it.
Also starring Nicole Sullivan, Dougie Baldwin, Elizabeth Alderfer, Chris Redd and Elizabeth Ho, Disjointed won't keep Netflix subscribers waiting long to bogart the hell out of Season 1, as it will debut on the streaming service on Friday, August 25, at 12:01 a.m. PT. To see what else the small screen will bring for the rest of the year, we've got your streaming covered with our 2017 Netflix schedule, and then everything else on the small screen can be found within our summer premiere guide and our fall TV schedule.
