Watch and discuss: The "United States of Tara" premiere

We heard that Showtime was going to be giving folks a sneak look at the premiere episode of the highly-buzzed new half-hour comedy United States of Tara later this week, but it looks like they've decided to jump their own gun.

If you head over here you can check out the first episode of the series, which stars Aussie powerhouse Toni Collette as a suburban mother with multiple personality disorder (not to mention a gay son and a sexually active teen daughter), in its entirety.

I'll share my two bits on the premiere after the jump, so as not to spoil anyone. Check it out and let's discuss!

Okay, my first reaction was not good, to be honest. The role of Tara is incredibly tough and if anyone can pull it off it's Collette, whom I've of course adored for decades. But for me, leading off with her alter of "T" wasn't the best move, as it's a character that we've seen way too many times at this point (Catherine Tate, anyone?) and is too easily dismissible as a "fortysomething actress acts like a horny trailer-trash teen and it's CRAZY!" gimmick.

Fortunately, "T" doesn't stay around for too long and they eventually move out of the house (am I the only one who was getting soundstage claustrophobia in there?) and we get to see Tara and her alters interact with the general public, which is infinitely more entertaining than watching her dutiful (saintly, even) family put up with it over and over.

As for Marshall, the gay son (played by Keir Gilchrist), I'm kind of loving it. He's a bit caricature but even the easy gags made me laugh (his reading Valley of the Dolls at a shooting range got me, sorry) and he seems to have real heart and smarts ... kind of a fussier and less flighty Justin Suarez. It's also interesting to see that his family seems to embrace his gayness (or potential gayness, as it's not entirely clear that he's actually out to them yet) but that one of his mother's alters, "Buck", is a homophobe who delights in taunting the kid.

I loved that by the end of the ep Marshall had earned Buck's respect by kicking the crap out of that annoying emokid and am curious to see how Tara's other alters (they've mentioned "Alice" but we haven't met her yet) handle him. I also kind of love that Tara's husband (the ever-huggable John Corbett) is a little afraid of Buck and it was interesting to see him too scared to stand up to Buck's homophobic taunt of Marshall ("are these homo-made?") in the kitchen.

By the end of the ep the show had won me over, despite the rocky start, and I'm looking forward to seeing more. What's up with Tara's bitchy sister? What exactly did "T" do out in the shed? And will Tara get worse the longer that she's off her meds?

What'd you guys think?