Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Great North’ On Fox, About A Rugged Single Dad And His Very Alaskan Family

Loren Bourchard’s shows don’t just share a drawing style, they share a protagonist: The put-upon father. Bob Belcher from Bob’s Burgers is a downtrodden guy who tries to do right by his family, even if it puts him in awkward situations. Owen Tillerman of Central Park is a soft touch of a dad, who treats the park he manages like one of his kids. The Great North, Bouchard’s new series, presents another father archetype: the rugged individualist. He also happens to have Nick Offerman’s voice. Read on for more.

THE GREAT NORTH: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: In twilight outside his house, Beef Tobin (Nick Offerman) finishes chopping a massive pile of wood then rattles off about a half a dozen complicated projects he just finished. “It’s 5 AM! The kids will be up soon!”

The Gist: Beef is a single dad who is the definition of Alaska rugged. He lives off the land, and tends to enjoy his time in the woods doing things like hunting, fishing, and making pepper jelly. Oldest son Wolf (Will Forte) lives there with his fiancee Honeybee (Dulcé Sloan); middle son Ham (Paul Rust) is a bit of an aimless teen who feels the need to come out to his family, despite already having done so long ago; youngest son Moon (Aparna Nancherla) is only ten but seems to be braver and more resourceful than all the other Tobin’s combined.

Then there’s Judy (Jenny Slate), Beef’s only daughter, who is celebrating her 16th birthday. She wants to break away from the family’s tradition and get a job in (gulp) the mall, working at a photography studio. She checks in with her imaginary friend and muse, Alanis Morissette (Alanis Morissette) to get some encouragement to tell her dad, and “grab life by the ass!” But Judy isn’t sure; ever since their mom ran off to Pennsylvania to be with her boyfriend, he’s been skittish about change. He even told his kids that their mom was eaten by a bear, even though they all know she ran off.

She employs her brothers and Honeybee to help them cover the job up while they have her birthday celebration… working hard on the family fishing boat. But when Beef takes them to the mall to pick up the photo gifts he had made for her, the gig is up. Though, Beef does have a bit of fun flirting with Judy’s new boss Alyson (Megan Mullally).

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Bob’s Burgers and Central Park, and not because this is another show produced by Loren Bouchard.

Our Take: No matter who runs Bouchard’s shows — The Great North was created by Bob’s Burgers vets Wendy Molyneux, Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin and Regular Show‘s Minty Lewis — the central character is inevitably a dad who is put-upon by his crazy family, but in the end wouldn’t want it any other way.

This time, though, instead of being downtrodden like Bob Belcher or a big softie like Owen Tillerman, Beef Tobin is a woodland renaissance man. And even though he’s still a little bit clueless when it comes to his family — he has a hard time accepting that his wife is gone, for instance, or why Judy would want to be a photographer and not an outdoorswoman — the love he has for them comes through in the first episode.

Offerman’s performance as Beef is like a slightly amped up version of himself, given his own history with loving the outdoors and working with wood. But we couldn’t think of anyone else who would capture Beef’s Alaskan can-do attitude quite as well. The rest of the cast still has to settle into their roles a bit — we know more about Judy than her older brothers, but that’s mainly because of her interactions with her imaginary Alanis.

Nancherla, though, shines as Moon, who is the requisite wild card of the family. She does a nice job of portraying the boy’s off-kilter courage and sense of danger. In some cases, it works in the family’s favor, like when he is able to ride the moose that ransacked the family’s guest house (including Beef’s ex’s fur bra). Other times, Moon will likely be reckless enough for Beef and his siblings to need to rein him in.

We do want to know more about Wolf and Honeybee, who moved from Fresno to be with her fiance. She has a vision of her wedding, full of sheep and attended by a Gyllenhaal, Alexander Skarsgård, or Peter Sarsgaard. They want to move into the guest house, which is a big ask; to Beef, they might as well be living “across town.” As we get to know the Tobins, The Great North will round into shape just like Bouchard’s other two shows did.

For now, The Great North is a bit frantic, but there’s enough character development in the first episode to see that the show is heading in a good direction.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: After the hullaballoo, Beef gives his blessing to Judy to take the photography job. She looks up to her Alanis, who says, “Now that’s what I cll diving into life’s butthole.”

Sleeper Star: Along with Nancherla, we’re intrigued by Dulcé Sloan as Honeybee; her role is the fish-out-of-water character, but it seems like she’s adjusting to life in Alaska just fine.

Most Pilot-y Line: “Elevator in progress? Well, we’re all in progress until we die, elevator,” says Beef when he sees the sign about the elevator being closed.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The Great North has some work to do to get to the level of its cousin shows, Bob’s Burgers and Central Park. But with a great voice cast and Bouchard overseeing things, it should get there eventually.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.

Stream The Great North On Fox.com