Showtime's Answer to "Six Feet Under" is "Out-of-Order"

"I am about to place my fate in you, my jury. Yes you, out there with your remote control, gathered in front of the modern-day fire. You see, since I was a kid, I imagined my life as a movie. So it's only appropriate that you, my audience, will decide if I am guilty or not, for I am going to confess everything to you: every sin contemplated, every sin acted upon in the nearly 40 years I've been on this good Earth."

This is the opening of Showtime's new series "Out of Order," a comedy-drama designed to do for Showtime what "Six Feet Under" has done for HBO. Mark, our narrator, is a bit too self-involved, but it's not surprising. He is, after all, a screenwriter in Hollywood, a community that's every bit as narcissistic as we've been led to believe all these years. He's married to another writer, Lorna, who suffers from clinical depression. They both do everything they can to raise their young child, and "Out of Order" shows them fighting (and often losing) their battles against their vices.

"Out of Order" makes frequent use of fantasy sequences to good effect. In the opener (repeating Sunday night at 10:45p), Lorna (Felicity Huffman) faces off against her abusive father and timid mom at Thanksgiving dinner, and the whole thing is set up like a boxing match, complete with broadcast commentators. The scene culminates in a fantasy sequence, in which Lorna takes Dad's shotgun, returns to the table, and blows the heck out of the turkey. "Happy Thanksgiving," she tells them as the scene ends.

Meanwhile, Mark (Eric Stoltz) is attracted to a variety of different women. One is a literal soccer mom (Kim Dickens), who is married but doesn't believe that mankind is designed to be monogamous. Another, Annie ("Family Ties"' Justine Bateman) is actively trying to seduce Mark at every opportunity.

Lorna has her own demons to contend with; in addition to her parents, she is addicted to drugs, notably Ecstacy, and is pulled into a late night binge by Sam (played by Huffman's real-life hubby William H. Macy), so that she misses her son's assembly performance the next day.

As dismal and dour as these proceedings sound, I found myself being drawn into this world, and I care about these shallow, whining people. I can't quite explain it, but I guess there's some satisfaction that people who run into Steven Spielberg at their kids' soccer game can get frustrated with all of life's little tortures like we can.

I think I'll probably stick with "Out of Order" for a little while. At least until "Curb Your Enthusiasm" comes back for season four on HBO.

By Bill Wilson 6/6/03