Very funny stuff - centers around Martin, a cheerful outcast with an imaginary friend (Chris O'Dowd) who (being a product, after all, of his own thoughts) reinforces his many amusingly terrible ideas. In addition to this friend/partner-in-crime, Martin has three sisters, and a mom and dad who are absolutely brilliant characters. The mother is kind of like Lois from Malcolm in the Middle, in that she's a real pro at the parenting gig, probably the smartest cat in the family and tells it like it is. Unlike Lois, she does all of this with a calmness that makes her more humorous, likable and watchable. It's clear that the dad would lose all control without her around, and often fails spectacularly at important parenting tasks. He's no fool though, even if he often plays the part. He and his wife have the air of people who could be much more if they didn't have 4 kids to raise in Boyle. They're brutally 'real' with their kids, hilariously practical in their parenting and daydream almost as much as their screwball son Martin. So, when they inevitably have to help out one or a few of the children, you as the viewer can't help but feel a little moved. This isn't just about Martin's coming of age - it's also about family and unconditional love and community. That said, it's also just hilarious. It's clever (Martin's exchanges with O'Dowd come to mind), absurd (Martin's ideas), irreverent and much more. Best comedy I've seen in a long time.
