TV Talk: ‘Fleishman is in Trouble’ marks worthy screen adaptation

Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week.

Produced by FX for Hulu, “Fleishman Is in Trouble” proves frustrating but ultimately rewarding.

Frustrating because it teases a mystery and then goes off on character tangents for multiple episodes, but ultimately rewarding because when it does get back to that initial primary story, there’s some excellent character exploration before a conclusion that’s more realistic and less of a fairy-tale, feel-good ending.

Getting to that may try the patience of some viewers who initially warm to the dark comedy that mixes with dramatic mystery and strains of melancholy that become more pronounced in the latter half of the eight-­episode limited series.

Created/written by Taffy Brodesser-Akner and adapted from her novel of the same name, “Fleishman Is in Trouble” follows 41-year-old Dr. Toby Fleishman (Jesse Eisenberg) who dives into the dating pool after his divorce from Rachel (Claire Danes), who disappears, leaving him to raise his 11-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son on his own.

Toby also reconnects with college friends Libby (soulful-as-ever Lizzy Caplan), who narrates Fleishman’s story, and Seth (Adam Brody). This is where “Fleishman” cements its every-person appeal. While the Toby’s-divorce storyline might not resonate, rekindled college friendships surely will. And if those don’t, then maybe Libby’s suburban ennui will prove familiar.

Although “Fleishman” is firmly rooted in the specific, rarified air of Upper East Side Manhattanites vying to get their kids into “the best” preschools — Lower Burrell native Joy Suprano co-stars as one of Rachel’s hoity-toity mom friends — the show has a way of making the specific universal.

Rachel’s ambitious striving clashes with Toby’s more down-to-earth values in a way that’s relatable whether you’re in Manhattan, N.Y., or Manhattan, Kan.

“Fleishman” is an almost entirely character-driven story, save for the mystery of Rachel’s disappearance, which gets back-burnered for multiple episodes in favor of tangents that develop the other characters and their relationships. Sometimes there are even tangents to the tangents — one involving Libby’s admiration for/crush on a famous magazine writer (Christian Slater) — that leaves one to wonder if “Fleishman” would hold together and retain viewer interest better with fewer episodes and fewer side tracks.

Even with some wayward storytelling, “Fleishman” remains appealing for viewers whose primary interest is in complex characters (nobody is black or white, they’re all shades of gray) rather than plot. And while several characters make questionable choices, the ending defies expectations in a way that seems true-to-life.

In a virtual press conference for the series last week, Brodesser-Akner said she started writing the 2016-set series wanting to make the story bigger than in her novel, but her fellow producers encouraged her to stick closer to what was on the book’s pages.

“The challenges were I love to write paragraphs and there were not paragraphs in this,” she said of “Fleishman,” which premieres with two episodes Thursday on Hulu followed by weekly releases. Libby’s narration serves as the connective tissue of the series. “I kept a file of things I would include in the phantom additional episode (in case) someone would say, ‘You have to write one more.’ ”

Caplan’s Libby, widely viewed as a stand-in for Brodesser-Akner, is incapable of putting on a face and being inauthentic, Caplan says, noting it’s why life in the suburbs is so brutal for her.

“There’s a very specific kind of loneliness that happens when you are in a marriage,” Caplan says. “There’s this unspoken thing that people say to themselves, ‘I’m never going to feel lonely again. I have my person and then a family.’ So when you start to feel those feelings of loneliness or alienation within your household or your family unit, it’s even more destabilizing because it’s like somebody’s reneging on the promise.”

Viewers who find this kind of thematic introspection nourishing will enjoy dining out on “Fleishman Is in Trouble.”