Middle-aged malaise comes at you fast in Dylan Moran’s new snackable sitcom Stuck. It’s a series about relationships that have become so comfortable over the years that they’re barely hanging in there, about shared dreams fading, about resentment riding high and emotions that won’t grow as a couple change their ways and take different roads. It’s not so much love tearing people apart, but more the ongoing humdrum and relentless continuum of the everyday tearing people apart.
Streaming on TVNZ+, each episode is served up at a piping hot temperature of between 10 and 15 minutes long, meaning you can wolf down the entire five-episode first season in around an hour. Which is arguably the best way to consume it.
While plots bubble up to the surface and arcs run over the series, it’s fairly faithful to the ordinariness of life. Moran has made a career out of his curmudgeonly comic persona and keen observations and they’re both in full display here. Not surprising as he created and wrote the show.
He stars as Dan, a weary ad exec who gets fired in the first episode for being too old. Times change and his once hip campaign character ideas, like the Phantom Sausage, are no longer en vogue. His pitch of a muscled chook with neck tattoos named B Droolin’ for a fast-food chain proves to be the final nail in his career coffin.
While he spirals down, his long-term partner Carla’s career in the wellness industry is floating to the top. Carla is played by Morgana Robinson, who provides a spunky ying to Moran’s dour yang.