Review: Chicago Party Aunt Season One Part One

Do you ever have an aunt who is wilder than others? Netflix has, and apparently, she happens to be the life of the party. This weekend brings us yet another adult animated series on Netflix that’ll surely get our funny bones shaking. I haven’t heard about this one other than the fact that it was coming out. I didn’t watch any of its trailers and clips that were released. I just saw the image, and I was like, “Okay, I might give this one a chance”. I mean, it can’t be worse than The Prince, right?

Chicago Party Aunt, which happened to be inspired by Chris Witaske’s Twitter account, was created by Jon Barinholtz, Katie Rich, and Witaske. The show’s first half consists of eight episodes, and it follows Diane Dunbrowski (voiced by Lauren Ash), a party-loving woman who’s determined to help other people around her. One of them is his gay nephew Daniel (Rory O’Malley), who left Stanford to live in her apartment. 

Amid the show’s insane mishaps, the first eight episodes represented an arc that showcases Diane’s attempts at being a responsible adult despite her irresponsible actions. These attempts were the main aspects that made the show interesting in the first place. The biggest challenge, however, was balancing those elements with adult humor. The attempts made from the recent adult animated comedies range from pretty good to downright insulting, with the biggest offender being The Prince. Thankfully, Chicago Party Aunt managed to balance those two aspects pretty well.

The show did take a while to get the party going during its first episode. Once it picked up afterward, it cranked up the volume to a ten and never let up until the last episode. I wouldn’t say it’s the best thing to come out on Netflix yet since part two is coming out soon. However, I would say it’s a pretty solid way to start this crazy party on a positive note due to its suitable stories and humor.

One of the things that made the show work so far was the enjoyable characters, especially Diane. Diane is the type of character who may be loud, obnoxious, and irresponsible but knows how to be caring towards others in their own crazy way. At first, I was concerned that I would be annoyed with this character due to her personality, and she would drag the show down by a lot. But I was pleasantly surprised to see that the creators managed to make her likable despite her crass. Yes, she can be bitchy at times, but there’s a good amount of charisma in her party-loving attitude and raunchy humor to make her journey towards adulthood hilariously entertaining. Lauren Ash’s vocal performance served as the icing on the cake as she delivered a satisfying balance of raunch and heart.

There’s also an attempt at providing LBGT representation for two characters. Those two characters are Daniel and Gideon (RuPaul), Diane’s new hair salon manager. The only episode that thoroughly explored this representation was episode five, titled “Halloweener Circle”, where Daniel goes to a queer Halloween Party to get his first kiss. Even though the story faltered in its representation in terms of storytelling, it’s still a solid effort to spotlight gay characters in animation.

Most of the adult humor in Chicago Party Aunt was as crazy and amusing as one would expect from a show about an old-school aunt in modern times. Its first episode wasn’t able to rock hard with its comedy regarding its execution. But it managed to pick up during its second episode (Helicopter Aunt), one of my favorite episodes, and the rest was smooth sailing. Of course, its brand of humor may not appeal to everyone as it contains plenty of adult language, sexual references, and censored private parts. There’s also the one episode (Tailgate Jailgate) where the characters berate the Green Bay Packers, which was surprisingly fitting considering our team’s situation this season. Those moments should’ve offended me due to my love for the team, but they didn’t. That episode was funny enough to make me forgive the writers for talking smack about the Packers.

Overall, the first half of Chicago Party Aunt partied hard like it was 1985. It isn’t anything unique regarding its genre and storytelling. However, it delivered what the cool aunt ordered without going overboard with its crass. Its amusing plots, enjoyable characters, and solid humor make this another satisfying addition to Netflix’s collection of adult animation. I will definitely be cheering for the upcoming second half of this party-induced series.