When I read about CPA in the previews, my reaction was this:

Chicago Party Aunt…an animated show on Netflix about a drunk 40yo woman partying in Chicago. Wait, isn’t there a show about a 40yo pretending to be 20-something in New York? Pass but I predict it will make it to at least season 2.

Then I watched EP1, and I’m changing that prediction to no renewal. Maybe the later EPs are good, maybe Netflix wants to be in the animated business, but EP01 is gratingly bad.

Low-bro lower-middle class can work with comedy, including 262 EPs of the life of shoe salesman Al Bundy and his wife Peg for the show Married…With Children. Or you can go wholesome family values for something like Roseanne which has some brashness but ultimately, everything comes back to family.

This show takes the worst of Peg and the worst of Roseanne, takes away any anchoring presence like kids or partners to call them on their bullshit when they’re acting looney-tunes, and ramps up the “if you judge me, I’ll judge you back, in-your-face, brashness is a virtue” motif.

There is no part of me anywhere in the entire episode that wanted her to succeed. She’s the worst of all of us, and you just want to see her fail. Hard. To get her come-uppance that being a rude asshat doesn’t get you ahead, and if you use other people, eventually the circle of life will come back and bite your ass. Nope. Her nephew loves her and needs someplace to live for a year, so his parents put him in their condo with her.

Maybe there’s some story arc here that turns her from a disaster into a functioning human being through the time with her nephew as he figures out his life, but honestly, she’s skated through her entire life with virtually no consequences, and just as they are about to land squarely on her head, there’s a reprieve. Really? I kind of wanted to see her squashed like a bug. I had no compassion for her character as she isn’t deserving of any. She literally tries to use anyone and everyone, and laughs about it.

As I said, maybe the show will go somewhere. But I sure hope not.