TL;DR: Leanne is like sitting in your friend’s kitchen, drinking coffee, and laughing so hard you nearly choke on a cookie. It starts slow, but once it finds its rhythm, it’s sweet, silly, and sneakily touching. Worth a watch if you like your sitcoms warm with a side of sass.

Sometimes a Netflix thumbnail just… gets you. You’re scrolling through your watchlist like a bored raccoon digging through the trash, convinced there’s nothing new worth your time, when suddenly a familiar face pops up. For me, it was Leanne Morgan — that honey-voiced, Southern stand-up comic who somehow makes you laugh about your mother’s funeral while still making you want to call her for a hug afterward.

I knew Morgan from her 2023 stand-up special Leanne Morgan: I’m Every Woman, a slice of life so warm and unpretentious it felt like listening to your favorite aunt gossip in the church parking lot. Now she’s gone full sitcom lead in Leanne, teaming up with none other than Chuck Lorre — the guy who basically has “multi-camera laugh track” running in his veins after birthing The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men.

What happens when you take a no-nonsense Southern storyteller and toss her into a network-style sitcom on Netflix? You get Leanne, a show that starts off like your first awkward date after divorce — a little stiff, maybe too much small talk — but slowly turns into a night you’ll remember fondly.

And yes, I watched all eight episodes Netflix sent to critics in one sitting. Don’t judge me.

Divorce, Menopause, and Small-Town Shenanigans

Leanne (played by, shocker, Leanne Morgan) is not having the best year. Menopause? Check. Grandchildren? Check. An email from her husband of 33 years saying he’s leaving her for another woman? Oh yeah, check. Her soon-to-be-ex Bill (Ryan Stiles, still effortlessly funny) pulls the rug out from under her life, and Leanne is left to figure out what starting over at this stage really means.

She’s not doing it alone, though. Enter Carol (Kristen Johnston, bringing the same hurricane energy she had in 3rd Rock from the Sun), Leanne’s sister and best friend who’s been divorced more times than most people renew their driver’s licenses. The two navigate the alien world of dating apps, family expectations, and the suffocating gossip network of a small suburban town.

If this all sounds familiar, you’re not wrong — Leanne shares some DNA with early-2000s sitcoms like Reba, where a middle-aged woman tackles life post-divorce. But here, Morgan’s Southern charm and Chuck Lorre’s sitcom machine polish give it a slightly different flavor: less “struggling to make ends meet” and more “finding joy in the absurdity of suburban life.”

The First Few Episodes — Awkward, But in a Relatable Way

Let’s be real: the first two episodes of Leanne aren’t going to blow your socks off. They’re exposition-heavy, introducing you to every family member, neighbor, and subplot like they’re checking names off a list. The jokes feel a little… rehearsed, like the actors are still figuring out their rhythm with each other.

But around Episode 3, something shifts. It’s as if everyone took a deep breath and decided, “Okay, now we know who we are.” Suddenly, the pacing clicks, the banter feels natural, and the laughs come easier.

This is classic Chuck Lorre sitcom territory — he’s always been a slow-burn kind of guy. Shows like The Big Bang Theory didn’t really find their comedic groove until after the pilot season. Leanne is no exception. Stick with it, and you’ll be rewarded.

The Characters — The Secret Sauce of the Sitcom

The heart of Leanne isn’t the divorce plot or the menopausal quips (though those are both delightful). It’s the relationships.

Leanne’s kids — her “pride and joy” son (Graham Rogers) and her “work in progress” daughter (Hannah Pilkes) — pop in with subplots that range from sweet to absurd. Then there are her parents (Celia Weston and Blake Clark), who deliver some of the best intergenerational humor in the show. Tom Daly plays the more grounded neighbor, acting as the straight man to the family chaos.

But the real MVP? The Leanne-Carol dynamic. Morgan and Johnston bounce off each other like they’ve been playing sisters for decades. Their relationship feels lived-in, with the kind of affectionate sarcasm that only comes from years of shared history. They’re the sitcom’s emotional anchor, the reason you keep pressing “Next Episode.”

Comedy, Timing, and Why Leanne Morgan Works on TV

Morgan’s stand-up has always been about taking the ordinary and making it hilariously absurd. She brings that same sensibility to the sitcom, especially in her delivery. Even when the joke is written like a standard sitcom punchline, her timing and inflection make it land differently — warmer, more personal.

That said, her dramatic acting isn’t as polished as her comedy chops. In heavier scenes, you can sometimes feel her leaning back into her stand-up instincts rather than fully inhabiting the moment. It’s not distracting enough to pull you out of the scene, but it’s noticeable.

The supporting cast sometimes struggles with uneven material, but that’s a common hazard in sitcom land. Even Friendshad Joey’s early “Why is he like this?” episodes. The good news? By midseason, everyone feels more comfortable in their roles.

Why Leanne Works — And Who It’s For

This is not a cynical, edgy sitcom. If you’re looking for It’s Always Sunny-style chaos or Arrested Development-level wordplay, this isn’t your show. Leanne is comfort food television. It’s the mashed potatoes of Netflix comedy — hearty, familiar, and better than you expected because someone slipped extra butter in when you weren’t looking.

It’s for people who miss the warmth of shows like Reba, Grace and Frankie, or even early Roseanne. It’s for anyone who wants to see a woman in her fifties leading a comedy without being reduced to a punchline about being “past her prime.” And yes, it’s for people who just like Leanne Morgan’s brand of humor and want more of it.

Verdict

Leanne starts a little wobbly but quickly settles into a funny, big-hearted groove. It’s a warm, charming sitcom that pairs Morgan’s sharp, Southern storytelling with Chuck Lorre’s knack for character-driven comedy. The result isn’t groundbreaking, but it’s consistently watchable, and often laugh-out-loud funny.