Trying

As a big TV fan, there’s nothing better than finding a hidden gem, a show that hasn’t been widely discovered yet but is so good you want to shout about it from the rooftops.

Trying, a BBC/Apple TV collaboration with four seasons under its belt, checks off all the boxes for me:

Sweetness mitigated by hilarity? Check.

Leans hard into the quote from Steel Magnolias—“Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion”? Check.

Characters you love to root for who are also flawed enough to make them relatable? Check!

Honestly, this little charmer has it all, mostly because of the leads, Esther Smith as the bubbly yet insecure Nikki, and Rafe Spall as her dry-humored, seemingly one-dimensional-yet-contains-multitudes partner. (The couple is unmarried at the beginning of the show, and to say more would be a spoiler, so just hope for the best.)

When they have trouble conceiving a child, they must grow up in a hurry when they realize their best path to parenthood is adoption. Are they mature enough to handle the scrutiny and challenges that come their way? Absolutely not, which is part of their charm. They bumble their way onward, with the best intentions and many setbacks. Relatably, they don’t have enough money, really, or a suitable living space for the higher standards applied to adoptive couples. They make do in unglamorous jobs that pay the bills, barely.

Supporting them (or not) on their adoption odyssey are their quirky family and friends and their fabulous social worker, played by the unparalleled Dame Imelda Staunton (who played Queen Elizabeth in the past two installments of The Crown.) My favorite supporting characters are Nikki’s fussy, imperious sister, Karen, played by Sian Brooke, and her bizarre, foppish boyfriend, Scott (Darren Boyd), who seems to be living in a world of self-aggrandizing delusions. Both actors play their rather extreme characters with a skillful subtlety that conveys their vulnerabilities and beating hearts beneath the weirdness.

Later seasons (especially the fourth, which concluded on a major cliffhanger) delve into the longings and losses of adoptive parents and adoptees. I am recommending it to everyone I know whose lives have been touched by adoption. Showrunner/head writer Andy Wolton is adopted himself, and it shows in Trying’s perceptiveness.

Rated TV-14, Trying is overall mild, content-wise, although the first episode features a non-graphic intimate scene with Nikki and Jason. (I can’t tell you how many first episodes of shows push the envelope, only to be tame thereafter!)

Christian viewers will appreciate the show’s themes of love and deep commitment, and of course adoption. Just as God is always and ever adopting his children, Jason and Nikki are on a quest to find the children they already love as much as they would their biological children. Viewers will relish cheering them on every nutty step of the way. (Apple TV+)