ABC’s fall TV lineup includes a show featuring Westport. The show is American Housewife and I was anxiously awaiting the premiere episode on Tuesday, October 11. Unfortunately for me, the show was a huge disappointment.

“Overall I have mixed emotions about it,” said Nina Radman ‘20. “The comedic aspects of it seemed a bit forced. I think a lot of the stereotypes in the show were over-exaggerated, but represented some people in Westport accurately.”

The show focuses on the mother of a family, Katie Otto, who with her husband raises their three children in Westport, Connecticut. The premise is a family trying to keep it real in the “perfect” town of Westport with “perfect” people. Katie finds the town of Westport to be “hoity toity” and the other moms to be superficial with money-obsessed kids. She works hard to make sure her children have values and therefore, do not end up like nearly everyone else in town.

Katie is concerned that her children are becoming just like the people she despises when her oldest daughter drinks green juice and her son capitalizes on a homeless man’s hard work.

While I expected the show to exaggerate the wealth and perfection of our town, I didn’t think that it represented Westport very well at all. The images of the town in the show do not remind me of any actual Westport locations in particular. The characterization in the show is too overstated for my taste. And the lines that are intended to be humorous consistently fall short of a laugh.

If you wanted to limit your TV watching to quality programs, then I would say don’t waste your time with this show. If you’re curious about the way that Westport is depicted in a sitcom, then you might want to catch an episode soon on ABC, every Tuesday at 8:30, before the show is canceled.