The Big C

The Big C is a television series on Showtime starring Laura Linney as Cathy Jamison, a woman who gets a cancer diagnosis and rethinks her entire life and her relationships, including the unusual ones she starts to develop, like with bratty student Andrea (Gabourney Sidibe) and grumpy neighbor Marlene (Phyllis Somerville). Cathy is a schoolteacher, wife, and mother who has lived her live conservatively and been rather uptight. After her diagnosis, she realizes she needs to make some changes and shake things up a bet. She confronts her immature husband and her spoiled son, drastically changing their family dynamic. She finds that she has more than she ever suspected in common with Marlene, the grouchy neighbor she often has conflicts with, as well as mean girl student Andrea, whose confidence and spirit inspires Cathy to connect with her. She also develops an atypical relationship with her oncologist, Dr. Todd (Reid Scott), and gets back in touch with her selectively homeless, outspoken, eccentric brother Sean (John Benjamin Hickey). Cathy wants to make the most of the time she has left and she learns the improtance of making the changes necessary to do that. Cynthia Nixon also guest stars as Rebecca, Cathy's old roommate. MORE