2.5 CLICKS
(out of 5)
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Four soccer moms struggle to balance their busy schedules, family lives, and sanity: Their friendship is further tested when it comes time to compete for spots in the school’s gifted program. In the end, the women realize their bond is truly stronger than they ever imagined. Watch “Little Women…” on AOL here…
“Season 2 doubles down on soccer mom cliches and squanders its opportunity” Read Samara’s full review…
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“Brilliantly set up to explore plenty of ripe comedic possibilities…the series middles and falls rather flat.” Read David’s full review…
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“The show’s lack of edge is counterbalanced by its frothy pleasures, including sharp dialogue and breezy performances.” Read Abdi’s full review…
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Little Women Big Cars – JACQUI REGO – 1.5 Clicks
Little Women Big Cars comes with what so many series on the web can only dream of – a big fat corporate budget. The problem is this show about the adventures of soccer moms, isn’t worthy of it. Not that soccer moms are inherently uninteresting, it’s just this series most certainly is. The reoccurring themes are gossip and neurosis – its central thesis in essence is, thank God you have a man…any man (except for lead character Barbara’s [Julie Warner] ex-husband who is written to the point of squirmy ridiculousness).
This is where corporate sponsorship fails, aiming at bland entertainment peppered with references to AllState Insurance. Two seasons in, the series loses any promise it had; ditching the fun ensemble feel it had in the first season by replacing season one Connie (Romy Rosenmort) with Anita Barone who plays the same character in season two. The dynamic is thrown off namely because with Connie 2.0 the character too similarly resembles in looks and mannerisms best friend Rocky (Kristy Swanson) so much so that I wonder why LWBC even bothers with the extra character.
The most watchable dynamic is between Meg (Amy Yasseback) and husband Woody (Alexis Denisof), who paint a slightly-misogynistic fairytale of married life centered around her well-meaning but ultimately dysfunctional helicopter parenting and his detached slightly-condescending acceptance of her, but at least they have chemistry! This is more than I can say about the reoccurring A plot, Barbara and love interest A.J. (Antonio Sabato jr.). AllState provides excellent car insurance, but this series is too much of a clunker to carry off brand integration.
Little Women Big Cars- SAMARA BAY – 2.0 Clicks
Season 1 of this show had some charm, along with good performances from slightly older actresses who don’t often get to be the leads of a show, but Season 2 doubles down on soccer mom cliches and squanders its opportunity. Helmed by a woman and written/produced by other women for AOL’s Parenting channel, Little Women, Big Cars seems squarely aimed at the exact audience that will see itself reflected onscreen. Is there a name for this sort of blatantly engineered demographic grab?
If it’s connecting with its audience – which indeed the numbers suggest (AOL’s press release boasts that the first season got 5.7 million views) – then perhaps it’s not connecting with this viewer for just that reason. I’m not a soccor mom. But I think it’s more than that: there’s a falseness to the women’s friendship, and to the schticky diva mom and the put-upon mom and the always dieting mom tropes, that feels like a waste of an all-female show. In Hollywood these days there’s a loud fight going on about equal opportunities among directors. Is this kind of stereotype-reinforcing catty banter and one-notch-above-soap-opera plot twisting fluff really what we’re fighting for?
Additionally, AOL admits in its press release’s fine print that “We help marketers connect with these audiences through effective and engaging digital advertising solutions.” This is the world we live in now. It sometimes isn’t even evil – but if a show is going to secretly sell to its audience, it better at least provide good content. Read more reviews by Samara…
Little Women Big Cars – DAVID KATSMAN – 2.5 Clicks
On paper, LITTLE WOMEN BIG CARS is set up to zoom by the competition (lame joke quota of the day met). Everyone involved brings with them a great resume and strong pedigree. Set in New Jersey, the series is “about four moms navigating the comedy, drama, and associated gossip of PTA meetings, elementary school committees, soccer practices, Antonio Sabato Jr.’s body and all the other trappings of suburban life.[1]”
It’s brilliantly set up to explore plenty of ripe comedic possibilities while being grounded and relatable to Vuguru’s demographic. Unfortunately, the series middles and falls rather flat when all is said and done. The leads give strong performances, especially Ed Begley Jr.’s hilarious turn as “Mr. Hughes,” and successfully walk the fine line between “cheese” and “quirky.” Melanie Mayron confidently directs the series and gives the comedy a chance to shine through.
However, the series arcs make for a very slow and dull viewing experience. The ideas are great; for example, i) recently divorced mom goes on a date with her kid’s soccer coach; ii) parents enter their kids in a beauty pageant to convince themselves their kid Is the best looking on in school; iii) parents must deal with their 1st grade kid getting into a gifted program and everything that entails and etc. However, all these ideas are better suited for a ½ hour sitcom than a season long arc on a 5-minute webseries. Thus, rather than playing out a joke and all its build-up in 20 minutes, the viewer is forced to slowly hear the punch line over the season. This, at no fault of the director, makes the comedy fizz out and the viewer want to shut it off.
It’s not bad – it’s just….unremarkable. With quality auspices behind it, a solid premise, great acting and strong production values, one hopes that LITTLE WOMEN BIG CARS can find its footing; it certainly has a voice. Read more reviews by David..
Little Women Big Cars – ABDI NAZEMIAN – 3.0 Clicks
Little Women BIG CARS is a little web series with a BIG BUDGET. You can tell they are well-funded by the crisp cinematography and recognizable cast – wait, is that the original Buffy acting alongside that Calvin Klein underwear model? The show comes to us courtesy of a partnership between AOL and Vuguru, and is sponsored by Allstate, so we know where the budget comes from. On the bright side, the show looks great. On the not so bright side, there are only so many Allstate commercials one wants to sit through between 5-minute episodes.
Little Women BIG CARS follows four soccer Moms as they deal with the important issues facing soccer moms everywhere: to pageant or not to pageant, to boob job or not to boob job. The show feels like Sex and the City produced by TV Land. In other words, it’s not exactly breaking new ground. In fact, the show often feels downright square. Its archaic attitude toward feminism is best exemplified in an episode where a wife and husband quarrel over their gender-specific chores. The wife doesn’t want to raise her children in a home where the man does the traditionally male chores, and the woman does the traditionally female chores. But she quickly drops her dispute when she sees a spider, turns into a frightened mess, and begs her husband to dispose of the insect.
The show’s lack of edge is counterbalanced by its frothy pleasures, including sharp dialogue and breezy performances. While lacking the emotional depth and empathy that made Sex and the City a phenomenon, Little Women BIG CARSis a lighthearted ode to female friendship, a theme that, after all these years, is still golden, girls. Read more reviews by Abdi…
The Tangled Web We Watch 
send that big fat corporate budget over here. lol