United States of Tara (Showtime series)

My favorite new show (and Janice's, too). Writer/producer Diablo Cody (Oscar winner for writing Juno (2007)) pushes the envelope gently but surely. Toni Colette (Little Miss Sunshine (2006), In Her Shoes (2005), Sixth Sense (1999), Towelhead (2008), her breakthrough Muriel in Muriel's Wedding (1994), and more) is brilliant as the beleaguered Tara, multiple personality disorder patient with three "alters" (other personalities): T, the foul-mouthed teenager; Alice, the prim over-achieving housewife; and Buck, the foul-mouthed biker dude who got his "dick shot off in 'Nam." It's nice to see John Corbett (Northern Exposure (CBS), My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002), and HBO's Sex and the City) back on the air as Tara's patient husband, and Rosemarie DeWitt (Mad Men (AMC) and Rachel in Rachel Getting Married (2008)) plays Tara's clueless sister. Some months ago, someone wrote to either Dear Abby or Ask Margo (Ann Landers' daughter and heiress of the column, and first cousin to the new Abby) to say that Steven Spielberg and Showtime had a comedy series coming out about multiple personality disorder, and wasn't that terrible because it's a serious problem. The columnist replied that the reader should write to Showtime to complain and tell her friends not to watch. I bristled when I read that and wish I had responded to the column that everyone is entitled to an opinion, but the reader had not yet seen the show! Glad to see that there are thousands of fans now. If you like it too, join a fan club or somehow let the powers that be know that you are watching. I don't want it to suffer the fate of NBC's Book of Daniel (all episodes of the latter are now available on netflix).