Let’s face it, there’s no such thing as a nice disease. The most prominent in this day and age has to be cancer. Considering its widespread devastation, it’s surprising that there haven’t been more dramas that focus on it more specifically.

Still, there are currently two US shows that tackle the subject in two very different ways. Breaking Bad finds its lead character Walter White (Bryan Cranston) having to come to terms with the news that he has cancer; being just a teacher of chemistry, he’s not exactly wealthy. So in a bid to leave some money to his wife and son, he decides to put his knowledge of chemistry to the test by making his own drugs to sell. Despite a dubious sounding premise, the show is one of the most original and entertaining to be aired in recent years.

Coming at the disease from a completely different angle is this new comedy drama The Big C. Cathy (Laura Linney) has been diagnosed with melanoma. Ironically enough, it’s the wake-up call her life desperately needed. Putting everything into perspective, she goes about actually enjoying the possible time she has left.

The thing is, she’s reluctant to tell her hubbie Paul (Oliver Platt) teenage son or brother Sean (john Benjamin Hickey), or anyone else for that matter, so she doesn’t. She doesn’t want to get bogged down in the emotional maelstrom that comes with the disease, so instead she concentrates on something she should have done a long time ago, on just being happy.

Of course it doesn’t all go to plan. It’s not that things get in the way exactly, but people certainly do. There’s the painter Lenny (Idris Elba) who catches her eye; then there’s her obese student Andrea (Gabourey Sidibie) who she desperately wants to help, whether she wants it or not; and her elderly spiky neighbour Marlene (Phyllis Somerville), who she warms to, eventually.

I guess I was just expecting my Boom competition prizes to be just that little bit more exciting.

This first series (with another one at least on the way) goes on quite a journey. The first few episodes are full to the brim with dark humour. As the series progresses however, the episodes have a greater mix of humour and drama.

Linney is one of a number of actresses who have made the jump from film to a TV series, proving yet again that TV is definitely the new black. Her Cathy is one of a number of interesting characters within the show; at times, due to her some of her actions, it makes her difficult to be completely likable, and although you may not necessarily root for her all the time, some of her decisions are wholly understandable.

One of her main conflicts is her relationship with her husband Paul, played by the often underrated Platt. Platt, much like he did in the short-lived series Huff is a veritable black hole, as he just sucks the attention away from any actor he just so happens to be standing next to, such is his power; he manages to combine Paul’s immaturity and honest sincerity into an entertaining and touching amalgam that can’t be ignored.

In a way the series treats the disease itself in a similar vein to the way Six Feet Under dealt with death, with a distant respect. It embraces it as much as it can, but at the same time, it doesn’t make it the be all and end all, as it were.

At times the writing seems a little erratic in places; it’s probably not helped by the show’s brief half hour duration, but at times it does write itself into a bit of a corner, without really knowing how to get out of it.

Thankfully, it’s the show’s characters that will have you coming back for more, as well as its acerbic wit. It’s this savvy combination that will have you laughing one minute, and fighting back the tears the next.