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PlayingHouseHeader.jpg

'Playing House' Back Before We Were Trumpy

By Emily Cutler | TV | June 23, 2017 |

By Emily Cutler | TV | June 23, 2017 |


Hey, quick question. Do you guys remember 2015? That was way back when Trump was still a joke, and not an incomprehensible, living nightmare? Back before Republicans were writing secret bills to take away healthcare from millions of people, despite the fact that their constituents desperately don’t want this bill to pass? Back before the horror show of modern politics didn’t find a way to worm itself into every single goddamn topic? Back, you might say, before we were brittle?

That’s right. Tonight is the premiere of season three of Playing House: Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves: The Return of Emma and Maggie. Or it’s very possible that USA is sticking with the original name Playing House. We’ll have to double check. The important thing is the show is amazing, it’s back, and I’m here to refresh you on just exactly what’s going on:

- Emma and Maggie are best friends, played by real life best friends Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham.

- Maggie has a baby, Charlotte. Emma is helping Maggie raise Charlotte after Maggie kicked her cheating husband to the curb (the father, Bruce, is actually very present in Charlotte’s life, and he and Maggie have reached a comfortable place in their relationship as mostly friends. It’s rather complex, and kind of beautiful).

- Emma and high-school-sweetheart Mark, played by Keegan-Michael Key, are going to start boning again after Mark’s recent divorce. Literally every single person wants this to happen.

That’s all you need to know. There are other highlights and characters, but in terms of plot points, that’s it. Especially because season three will incorporate Jessica St. Clair’s real life battle with breast cancer into Emma’s storyline. As standard American sitcoms are wont to do. There’s also a new love interest for Maggie (which means, luckily, Emma can stop creating serial-killer-basement-dating-rooms), but the show is refusing to tell us who he is (we can unfortunately eliminate Jason Mantzoukas, who’s already appeared on the show, but guesses as to the mystery actor are welcome in the comments).

So season three might not be as light and breezy as previous season, but it should still be hilarious. And either way, it will still be significantly better than reality.