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BY JOHN CROOK Ryan Murphy helped bring back musicals with his freak-and-geek-tastic Fox series "Glee," and his "American Horror Story" simultaneously scared the wits out of its viewers while making sly observations about the nuclear family at its core. But "The New Normal," the NBC Tuesday comedy premiering Sept. 11, may be Murphy's most surprising and subversive series yet, finding humor and heart in a decidedly shopworn premise: a couple pursuing their dream of becoming parents. The couple in question here is gay: Bryan DAILYNEWS RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Your "Local" Daily Newspaper Since 1885 conservative and bigoted grandmother (Ellen Barkin) in hot pursuit. Desperate and broke, with few immediate career prospects, Goldie sees the hefty financial bonus Bryan and David are offering their surrogate as her ticket to a new life. Even before the show has premiered, it (Andrew Rannells, Broadway's "The Book of Mormon"), a successful television producer, and David (Justin Bartha, Nicolas Cage's sidekick from the "National Treasure" movies), a sweet-natured gynecologist. Happily in a stable and committed relationship, they desperately want a child to share their lives but become disheartened by the obstacles they face. Enter Goldie (Scottish newcomer Georgia King), a waitress who has fled a dead-end marriage in Ohio to make a fresh start in California with her precocious 8-year-old daughter, Shania (Bebe Wood), with Goldie's already has drawn the ire of one conservative group that has called for a boycott, sight unseen. Bartha says he's aware of that development, but he hopes people will watch the show and discover that it really isn't overtly political. "We are aware that it's something that will be looked at, but it's also an issue that is, in my opinion, well past its expiration date," Bartha says. "I just think it's ridiculous that this still an issue, and if you kept addressing that, it would become overbearing. It's about how everyone relates to each other and how hard it is to have a family, and that also has to do with straight people, white people, black people, old people, young people, everything. created the semiautobiographical show with Rannells in mind to play Bryan (read: Ryan), but Bartha was quick to get on board after he read the pilot script. "I thought it was great and seemed show about family, just as 'All in the Family' was. The fact that the central characters are gay is not the talking point of every single scene, which is one of the things I love most about the show. It's just another characteristic of these people." Murphy, who like Rannells is openly gay, "This show really is, first and foremost, a important in a weird way, so I wanted to be involved," he says. "When I do watch television, a lot of the things I see while I am flipping around look disposable, whether it's scripted or unscripted. The cast that we have assembled – and I am not talking about myself here – are all just indelible in the way they are creating lovable and representative characters. From M&T Bank Stadium in Balti- more. (Live) (HD) 7:15 p.m. (ESPN) NFL Football San Di- ego Chargers at Oakland Raiders. From O.co Coliseum in Oakland, Calif. (Live) (HD) THURSDAY 4:30 p.m. (ESPN) College Football Rutgers vs. South Florida. From Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. (Live) (HD) FRIDAY 6:00 p.m. (ESPN) College Football Washington State at UNLV. (Live) (HD) 7:00 p.m. (CSNBA) College Football Pur- due at Notre Dame. GOLF SATURDAY 9:00 a.m. (NBC-24) PGA Tour Golf BMW Championship, Third Round. From Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. (Live) (HD) SUNDAY 11:00 a.m. (NBC-24) PGA Tour Golf BMW Championship, Final Round. From Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. 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