ABC's new parenting comedy series, "American Housewife," will premiere Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 8:30 p.m. The show stars Katy Mixon as Katie Otto, whose character is dubbed as "The Second Fattest Housewife on Westport." Incidentally, this was the series' original title before the network made its changes.
Created by Sarah Dunn, "American Housewife" features a plus-sized Connecticut mom juggling the needs of her three kids and her husband (Deidrich Bader). Katie is also portrayed as a mother who really doesn't have it together compared to the seemingly perfect and privileged women in her community. Yet she is proud of who she is and her flaws, which is the main premise of "American Housewife."
Katie and her "American Housewife" family live in a neighborhood that has a good special needs school for her daughter, Anna-Kat (Julie Butters), who has OCD. Katie's two other children, Angela (Meg Donnelly) and Harrison (Daniel DiMaggio) are hitting puberty. Thus, they have body issues and other struggles that teenagers face with in trying to fit in.
We all make sacrifices for our kids. Living in Westport is that for Katie. #AmericanHousewife pic.twitter.com/CTdhSpbS6V
— American Housewife (@AmericanWifeABC) October 9, 2016
The Connecticut mom on "American Housewife" is also trying to fit in a community that expects nothing but perfection from mothers. "All she wants is to raise her children to be grounded in a situation that isn't grounded at all," Katy Mixon explains what the show is about on TV Insider.
However, in the show's pilot episode, Katie will have to navigate through a storyline about being a plus-sized mom. Boston Globe writes that this is meant to establish how the character hopes to breakdown norms and stereotypes, beginning with her appearance. The Salt Lake Tribune cites that ultimately, "American Housewife" is a show about marriage, family, raising kids and life. The fact that the mom is plus-sized is just but a detail to the story.
"She's a larger-than-life personality, and while she can be antagonistic, she also has to adapt. There are a lot of parenting stories," Sarah Dunn said of the "American Housewife" character she created, per an interview with The Highlands Current. Check out the teaser to the series in the video below.
