In the Motherhood

Megan Mullally and Cheryl Hines come to ABC in the new comedy "In the Motherhood," which takes a look at the importance of family and friends while trying to juggle motherhood, work and love lives in an overly complicated modern world.

The story focuses on Rosemary, Jane and Emily, who represent mothers we all know. Rosemary is a free-wheeling mom who plays it fast and loose when it comes to parenting her teenaged son, Luke. Married numerous times, but currently single, Rosemary lives by her own rules. Much to the amazement of the other moms, her nontraditional parenting style has yielded a son much more responsible than she. Rosemary's best friend, Jane, is a recently divorced working mother of a pre-teen, Annie, and a baby girl, Sophie, who is just trying to keep her career and home afloat. Having just returned to work after giving birth eight months ago, Jane struggles to find a happy balance - lucky for her she has her "manny," Horatio, to help out. Jane's younger sister, Emily, sees herself as the model stay-at-home-super-mom for her two young children, Esther and Bill. Emily's home is a work of art, and her kids are polite and sweet-everything has its place in her world. Married to Jason, Emily takes parenting as seriously as any mother could.

As for the men in their lives, Horatio, Jane's "manny," communicates with Jane's infant daughter through sign language and believes the baby is the only person who really "gets" him. He's a good-hearted lug who is also much more than a babysitter to the three ladies. Then there's Jason, Emily's husband, who is the uptight breadwinner, ready at any given moment to open a vein for his family. He likes his food to be organic and his wife, home and children at the top of their class. Basically he's an ulcer waiting to happen.