Uncoupled: Neil Patick Harris’ fizzy, escapist Netflix show

Harris has been a prolific presence in TV and film ever since he broke through as the cherubic Doogie Howser in 1989. Famed for his high energy charisma, Harris has the cachet to carry a series on the strength of his multi-talents.

The other name up top is Star, a TV writer who has created some of the best known primetime soaps and frothy shows including Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, Sex and the City, Younger and Emily in Paris.

Combined, Harris and Star’s mega wattage lights up Uncoupled, a fizzy and likeable half-hour series about Michael (Harris), a fortysomething gay man who is dumped without notice by Colin (Tuc Watkins), his partner of 17 years.

As Michael is throwing an elaborate surprise 50th birthday party for Colin, Colin breaks the news – he’s not only leaving him but he’s already moved out.

Michael is left abandoned and bereft. There were no warning signs that something was amiss in their beautifully furnished Manhattan apartment and Colin is not forthcoming about why he walked out.

While trying to process the shock of that sudden life change, Michael is thrust back onto the dating scene. He finds it much changed in the near two decades he’s been away and the d**k pics etiquette of Grindr is but just one of the myriad challenges.

The appeal of shows like Uncoupled is that they create a cosy world where everyone is attractive, well-dressed and sharp. They have fascinating jobs (Art gallery owner! TV weatherman!), and they always say exactly the right thing at the right moment – almost as if they have Hollywood writers scripting their witty and occasionally insightful dialogue.

Even seemingly insurmountable emotional traumas have a sheen to them. There are brief scenes of Michael’s depressed state – scrolling through old photos of him and Colin – but not the endless ugly crying or bouts of catatonia that bruising break-ups actually trigger.

Any truncated episodes of being upset is usually quickly followed by moan sessions with Michael’s sassy friends, including Suzanne (Tisha Campbell), Billy (Emerson Brooks) and Stanley (Brooks Ashmanskas), where the repartee can undercut the emotional truth of a moment.

There are flashes of rawer emotions between Michael and Claire (Marcia Gay Harden), an uber-rich divorcee still reeling from being left by her husband for a much, much younger woman.

Michael and Claire bond over their mutual predicament, the bitterness of being deserted, of having to navigate the single life again when they had been assured they were done. These are the times when Uncoupled feels like it goes a little deeper than the surface hijinks of brassy and privileged New Yorkers.

And Harris is able to bring some gravitas to an endeavour that could’ve been much shallower in different hands. He is, as always, very watchable.

Uncoupled wouldn’t be signature Darren Star escapism – there are definite Sex and the City vibes – if it was really truthful about being suddenly dumped. If you want to swim in those murky waters of anguish, there’s always Scenes From A Marriage.

Uncoupled is on Netflix from Friday, July 29

Originally published as Neil Patrick Harris’ fizzy, escapist Netflix show Uncoupled