My 2 cents
So her mom is British and still has a strong British accent even tho Sam would have to be living in America her whole life? Maybe you could keep the accent but i think it's unlikeley. I know in Louie, Louis C.K chose a black actress to play the mother of his kids because he liked her best for the role and didn't care about ethnicity matching with the kids but why choose this British lady?
Also her mother lives on the same street but when she's working the kids are left alone to have parties?
Anyway these are minor things that bothered me. Overall I like the show. Only came on here to see if anyone else was bothered by the mother. maybe this is explained as the show goes on. Only 4 eposodes in.
On the boards I saw one post saying it's Louie with a woman but it's not the same at all. First of all talking about the struggles involved in single mother verse single father, Louie still shares custody with his ex and Sam is on her own. Secondly, in terms of the shows being the same with a gender swap, Louie is much darker and surreal at times.
Saw another post that this show doesn't work because women aren't funny. Going back to the above mentioned comparison to Louie, this show is not as funny as Louie. Also I would agree that funny women are more rare than funny men. However to say women aren't funny is not just sexist, it's ridiculous. Also I felt it was more about women than it was about being funny. First episode said 'dedicated to my daughters'.
Finally, I saw on the board a comment on Californication. I had totally forgot she was in it. It made sense of the Duchovny scene for me. When she said the line about him losing his kids and it was all his fault and then the director just says good job and wraps it up, I was lost but now realise it was an in joke. I didn't watch Californication until the last season but remember from watching it he wasn't the best father. Sorry I'm slow on the uptake but I thought it was a nice touch.