I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about The United States of Tara. I’m struck by the show’s potential. The pilot is written by Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody, and directed by Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl). Did I mention it also has the hand of Stephen Spielberg on it? And with Toni Collette playing the lead, The United States of Tara could be a TV masterpiece.

Tara Gregson, played by Collette, suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), otherwise known as multiple personality disorder. She also has two children, Kate and Marshall, and has been married to Max (John Corbett) for 17 years. While watching the movie, I was reminded of the first line of Anna Karenina.

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

While I imagine the Gregsons are unhappy in their own way thanks mostly to Tara’s DID, the love the characters have for each other is without question. Aside from mental issues, The Gregsons emulate nearly every American family; dysfunctionally loving.

From the pilot, I could see Diablo Cody and the Cast treated Tara’s DID with respect. It did not appear distasteful. However, I’ve never been affected by the disorder and have no experience in that regard. I cannot speak to how it would come across to someone who has been impacted by DID. My concern with the show is the delicate balance that must be struck between humor and  political correctness. In many ways, The United States of Tara has not only the potential to entertain but to inform as well. Should the show stay as close to possible to the realities of DID, the dark humor of the show could serve to create awareness and compassion for those who have suffered the heights of abuse usually responsible for this particular mental illness.

In the pilot, Toni Collette is awesome. She plays each personality well and is the heigth of believability. In fact, the entire cast was great. They pulled me into their world and I felt sympathy for each character. More than anything, I was struck by the humanity of this family. Despite Tara’s DID, they appeared normal in every other aspect. They have learned to cope with great challenges and still love each other and function as a family unit.

The show has an offbeat feel to it. It is not your average family drama. There is vulgar language and sexually charged scenes. One in particular disturbed me – the scene with Tara, who had switched to “T”, the horny teenage girl, interacting with her son, Marshall. I say this only because I have three boys myself and would be horrified to act this way in front of them. This show will never be as mainstream as The Cosby Show, but it has the potential to be really great. I hope they can pull it off.

The United States of Tara premieres on Showtime on January 18th at 10 PM. It is also available on the Netflix watch instantly service and DirectTV’s Channel 101. Check your DirectTV guide for show times.