Life with young children can be chaotic. There are school lunches to make, school to get to, after-school clubs to attend, play dates to coordinate, teeth to be brushed and bedtime stories to be read. It can be exhausting, frustrating, and maybe a little infuriating at times, but it’s ultimately rewarding.
That’s the main theme of Children Ruin Everything.
Now in its second season on CTV, the Monday night comedy stars Meaghan Rath and Aaron Abrams as Astrid and James, who are juggling work, going back to work, in-laws and friends when you have kids in your life. In the second season, siblings Felix (Logan Nicholson) and Viv (Mikayla SwamiNathan) are joined by an infant brother, meaning they’re now sharing a room. That, of course, results in conversations about sharing and privacy.
“This season, we really get into more chaos, obviously, because there is another baby,” Abrams says. Because of COVID-19, the first season of Children Ruin Everything was rushed and stressful. The sophomore go-round was much more relaxing, allowing for what he calls a “blooper energy,” between him and co-star Rath. That is evident on-screen too; there is an ease in their performances that is natural and easy to like and their physical comedy is unmatched.
The aforementioned privacy angle is addressed in Monday’s new episode, “Privacy,” where Astrid and her sister, Dawn (Nazneen Contractor), are convinced their mother, Nisha (Veena Sood), is keeping something from them. Meanwhile, a request to launch a new product at work leads James to agree to meet with Ennis’ (Ennis Esmer) sketchy cousin to consider his new gummy product, and soon they’re roping in more of James’ family to help with the pitch. Kim Coates drops by for the instalment, adding to an impressive list of guest stars that have included Anna Hopkins, MasterChef Canada winner Mary Berg and Aaron Ashmore.
There are many, many family sitcoms battling for primetime eyeballs, but nothing, Abrams says, like Children Ruin Everything.
“The show is about parenting, and the parents are emotionally intelligent communicative people,” he says. “To me, that was not only a new way of doing things—where they weren’t at odds and the dude isn’t some big palooka trying to watch the game and she’s a shrew—this is a couple who is a team. Their love is very present and they love their kids. And that, to me, made it funnier.
“They are smart people who are constantly being turned into idiots.”
Children Ruin Everything airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.
Image courtesy of Bell Media.
