Stars: 4/5

The first episode of “Turn Up Charlie” horrified me. There’s a Park and Rec episode where Leslie says to Ann, “Oh Ann. You’re too beautiful to be funny.” That was my exact thought for the entire first episode. Oh Idris Elba, you’re too hot for comedy.
You were meant for tuxes and roles that involve you being a smoldering intellectual or shooting things in a tank top. And trust me, ”Turn Up Charlie” has none of those things. The show features as a washed-up DJ named Charlie (Idris Elba) who accepts a nannying job from his successful best friend, David (JJ Feild) and his very successful DJ wife Sara (Piper Perabo).
What are you doing in this stupid nanny role, I thought to myself. What had they done to my boy? Besides the Elba thing, I also can’t stand shows that involve bratty kids, and boy, this little girl was a monster. She completely devastates her nanny in a way that’s supposed to be funny but seems really psychopathic.
The plot follows his relationship with the girl he’s nannying, Gabrielle (Frankie Hervey) and her own emotions and social life, along with his DJing career. The two slowly gain success together, becoming real friends as Charlie gets more gigs and Gabrielle adjusts to school and makes more friends.

Some stuff that wasn’t great — the child should not have been at any of the adult clubs or festivals. Also, I didn’t find it believable that an 11-year-old was trying so hard to sneak booze all the time. I remember being 11, and my interests were definitely still barbie-related.

But then, something happened. I can’t explain it, but somewhere along the way I actually started liking it. I think the show starts to relax after the first few episodes, and without trying to force the comedy, the characters start getting better, turning into people you’d actually care about.

The focus stays on Charlie and his determination to succeed in music, and there are a lot of great scenes where he’s trying to promote himself. I really liked that he wasn’t vilified for choosing his music career over being a nanny for Gabrielle. Watching all the relationships unfold was pretty interesting.

Toward the end, Gabrielle’s mom seemed like she was getting a little too into Charlie, but thank god they avoided cheap drama and the two stayed just friends. All of the side characters are also cool, funny without being clichés. I really like Charlie’s aunt, who was excellent at both guilting him and at cooking.
All of the characters are flawed, but in compelling ways. Gabrielle becomes less psychotic and progressively more adorable. By the end I was 100 percent for her and Charlie, it was so sweet.

“Turn Up Charlie” is a compelling story about friendship, talent and love. And after it stops trying to be funny, it actually becomes good.