American Classic TV Review: Kevin Kline and Laura Linney lead a comedy about family and theater

Plot: Broadway star Richard Bean suffers a spectacular public meltdown and returns home to the family theater where he first became aware of his own brilliance. Once there, his extreme behavior sets off a series of crises among those closest to him. As old loves resurface and buried secrets emerge, Richard must confront the consequences of his past actions and the family and town he left behind in pursuit of fame and glamour.

Review: Acting as the subject of a television series is not a new concept. The metafictional world of stage productions has blurred the line between reality and performance since the art form’s inception. The 1938 play Our Town by Thornton Wilder took it to the next level and has been regularly performed ever since. In the new comedy series American Classic, that stage play gets a new lease on life in the small town of Millersburg under the guidance of fallen actor Richard Bean, who rediscovers his roots and love of performance while encountering family drama along the way. Led by Kevin Kline in the lead along with Laura Linney, Jon Tenney, and many more, American Classic takes the small-town stage used to great comedic effect in shows like Schitt’s Creek and the film Waiting for Guffman, and blends it with a funny story about a family with theater in their blood as they try to save their hometown.

American Classic opens with Richard Bean (Kevin Kline) debuting his new Broadway production of King Lear, only to go viral and step away from New York City to wait out the bad publicity. Learning his mother has died, Richard returns to his Pennsylvania hometown for the funeral. His brother, Jon (Jon Tenney), runs the theater founded by their father, Linus (Len Cariou), and their late mother, Ethel (Jane Alexander), along with Jon’s wife, Kristen (Laura Linney), who used to be in a romantic relationship with Richard. While seeing his hometown struggling in the dire economic climate post-COVID, Richard decides to stage Our Town with local townspeople and his own niece, Miranda (Nell Verlaque), who wants to become an actor. Over the eight-episode series, Richard must figure out how to mount the production despite the obstacles in their path, while reconnecting with his family years after he let his fame get to his head.

Kevin Kline is perfectly cast as Richard Bean. Kline has a long and illustrious career on stage that eclipses even his acclaimed work in Hollywood. Here, he portrays Richard with an Olivier-esque accent and carries himself as if he were the greatest thespian of all time. His small-town roots betray his New York lifestyle, and it sometimes feels like a fish out of water returning to once again be the odd man out. Richard, as a performer, is clearly talented, and as the series progresses, Kline shows him re-engage with where he started as his production begins to come together. It also means that the relationships with his family members create additional strife, especially since Kristen also serves as the Mayor of Millersburg. With a real estate developer, Connor Boyle (Billy Carter), looking to buy property in the town for cheap and the town at risk of even staying in existence, Richard sees his play as more important than ever, much to the chagrin of his agent, Alvy (Tony Shalhoub), back in New York.

The Bean family is central to the story, with all three generations adding to the plot, but the ensemble of supporting cast members is a great expansion of the everyman approach Richard brings to his staging of the play. From casting doctors and local people in similar roles, Richard finds something magical to hone in on. There is also a hilarious performance from Elise Kibler as Connor Boyle’s girlfriend, Nadia Romanova, who is enamored with Richard and wants to be an actor herself. Jessica Hecht also appears as Richard’s ex-wife, Polly, and Stephen Spinella plays New York Times theater critic Xander with Aaron Tveit as his husband. Everyone adds to the story, which takes the play from the earliest stages of mood boards and set design through casting, rehearsals, and eventually the performance itself. Each half-hour episode flies by and makes for a breezy watch that will have you caring about every character, even the ones we would normally treat as antagonists. American Classic is less about the triumph over a villain and more about how a love and appreciation of the arts can help even a dying town thrive.

The series comes from co-creators Michael Hoffman (Soapdish, One Fine Day) and Bob Martin (The Prom), who wrote six of the eight episodes of the season, with Ellen Fairey scripting the other two. Hoffman reunites with Kline, whom he directed in the 1999 film version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Hoffman directs six of the eight episodes of the season, with Tricia Bock helming the other two. The small-town feel of the series lends a sense of realism to American Classic, with many of the actors feeling like natural performers plucked from the production location, including Ajay Friese, Joseph Morales, and Matt McGrath. There is potential for this series to continue for multiple seasons, with each year focusing on a new stage production out of the Millersburg theater owned by the Beans, thanks to the nice combination of actor and theater inside knowledge that Hoffman and Martin bring to the story, coupled with the charming feel of the series as a whole. From musical numbers performed by Tenney, Linney, and Kline to several full scenes performed from Our Town, American Classic lives up to its name.

American Classic is not just for fans of Broadway or stage plays. In fact, you don’t really need to know anything about musicals or acting to appreciate this story. American Classic is a nice comedy that boasts solid performances, especially from Kevin Kline and Laura Linney, who have excellent chemistry together. Michael Hoffman and Bob Martin pack a lot of story into these eight half-hour episodes, and the season ends at a point that left me wanting to revisit these people for another season. This is a low-stakes comedy that is fun and funny without needing to be edgy or crass, but does not shy away from profanity or mature subject matter. American Classic is one of the more enjoyable new comedies I have seen in quite some time, and I hope it sticks around for an encore.

American Classic premieres on March 1st on MGM+.