Family Dynamics, Universal Truths, Unmean Comedy and "Raising Hope."

"Raising Hope"

Like Gregory Thomas Garcia's NBC comedy "My Name is Earl," Fox's "Raising Hope" is set a fictional Camden County somewhere in Middle America but with a coastline of some sort, somewhat like Springfield on "The Simpsons." 

If you aren't familiar, "Raising Hope" revolves around perpetual loser Jimmy Chance, who had a one night stand with a serial killer, resulting in the serial killer's pregnancy and Jimmy's custody of their daughter after said killer's execution. Now in it's fourth season, "Raising Hope" has truly hit it's stride, combining absurd situations, hilarious throw-aways and an ever evolving storyline with one hell of an ensemble cast. I may hate Fox News, but several of their prime-time comedies are among the best, of which "Raising Hope" continues to be my favorite.

The Chances are an under-educated family barely living at the poverty line. Burt (hottie Garrett Dillahunt) and Virginia (actual child-star survivor: stage and screen veteran Martha Plimpton in a tragically over-looked, award-worthy comedic performance) Chance live with their son Jimmy (adorable ginger Lucas Neff) in Virginia's grandmother's house in Natesville. Maw Maw (the incomparable Cloris Leachman) also lives there, but spends her time hilariously drifting in and out of reality. But I think my favorite thing about Garcia's show is it's love of familial love. There are hardly fewer dysfunctional families than the Chances. The difference is, their dysfunction is born out of love, rather than non-communication and substance abuse. 

And talk about ensemble casting! Dillahunt's sexy/goofy charm is well matched by Plimpton's very sincere and hilarious modern interpretation of Madame Malaprop. Neff's Jimmy has his own goofy charms,as well, complimented by Shannon Woodward as the over-compensatingly apologetic daughter of rich parents, Sabrina (Jimmy's eventual wife and adoptive mother of the titular Hope - the very adorable Baylie and Rylie Cregut). And anytime Ms Leachman appears, she inadvertently steals the scene, through no fault of her own, though I suspect by deliberate intention of Garcia and his writers who undoubtedly know genius when the see it. Supporting performances from Gregg Binkley and Todd Geibenhain as the hysterically weird Frank help make "Raising Hope" one of the most original and funniest shows of the 21st Century. If you aren't watching, you should.

Oh, and add guest stars like Amy Sedaris; Lee Majors; Shirley Jones; Melanie Griffith and Leslie Jordan and TV doesn't really get much more Meta. 

And from the most recent episode:



More, anon.
Prospero

TV Review: "The Michael J. Fox Show"

I may or may not have mentioned that I kind of liked "Mom" with Allison Janey and Anna Faris and I really want to like "The Crazy Ones," but it will take another episode to convince me. NBC smartly aired both the pilot and second episode of Michael J. Fox's return to situation comedy, playing a local news anchor with Parkinson's who 'decides' to return to work after taking five years off to spend with his family (all of whom are just a little tired of his over-attention). Betsy Brandt, straight off her as-of-this-writing-over stint as Marie on something called "Breaking Bad," plays Mike's wife, Annie and Kate Finneran is his sister, Leigh. The rest of the cast is rounded out by Ana Noguiero as his idolizing field producer and Wendell Pierce as his boss.

I really expected to hate this show (not as much I hated "The Goldbergs," but that's another review). I was expecting something hokey and exploitative, which it almost was. Luckily, the show has some remarkable things going for it, the first of which is it's terrific cast. Fox is all in and he and Brandt share an excellent chemistry, and while she does that best she can with kind of a jerk of a character, Finneran manages to hold her own.  Sure, they take a cheap shot or two (mad at his boss, Mike throws a dinner roll at him, saying "Oops! Parkinsons!"), but there were also just enough surprisingly and genuinely funny moments in both episodes, that I have to give it "Conditional Approval" (a Day Job-related term). The mostly excellent writing will only get better as the writers and cast continue explore these characters and their relationships. My only real quibble with the show is its blatant "Modern Family" faux-documentary format.  Has the fourth wall been crossed once too often, with no going back?

It's certainly not the best network sitcom ever (or even this season, so far), but it was a lot better than I ever expected it to be. **1/2 (Two and a Half Stars Out of Four).

Many years ago, I wrote a TV parody stage play in which one character went on a talk show and claimed to have proof that Fox was the anti-Christ. This was at the height of his popularity, after the Back to the Future series. If I was writing that play today, it would be Justin Bieber or one of the lads from 1D (probably Harry or Liam). I have nothing but admiration for Mr. Fox. 

Hopefully they'll find a groove and they show will get even better.

More, anon.
Prospero

Not So Super Man

Ugh!

Well, we're only a week into the new TV season and one of the worst sitcoms in television history has already reared its ugly head on CBS. And that's a shame, because "Partners" had a lot of great things going for it to start.

First off, it was created by David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, creators of "Will & Grace." Based on their real-life business partnership and friendship of a gay man and a straight man, the show should have been a no-brainer. Add the talented David Krumholtz ("Numbers"); Micheal Urie ("Ugly Betty"); Sophia Bush ("One Tree Hill") and the gorgeous Brandon Routh (Superman Returns), and CBS should have had an unqualified hit on its hands.

Sadly, "Partners" suffers from zero chemistry between its two leads; absolutely terrible writing with completely unfunny (not to mention horribly stereotypical) jokes and one of the worst, most ill-timed canned laugh tracks in memory  Krumholtz and Urie play Joe and Louis, best friends for 23 years who run an architectural firm in New York. Bush is Joe's girlfriend, a jewelry designer named Ali and Routh is Louis' boyfriend, Wyatt, a nurse. In the pilot, Joe worries that Ali has given him a "marry me or else" ultimatum while Louis insists on telling people that Wyatt is a doctor. Tracy Vilar is Rosanna, their 'saucy' Latina Office Manager who gets away with insulting her bosses with 'jokes' like "Joe, Joe, Joe, gay, gay, gay, I will cut you!" And Routh fares even worse with: "It's Cardiac Awareness Week. Which is why I have a heart on." Sigh...

I can't really tell you more about this travesty, because I was so offended in every possible way, I turned it off after the first 15 minutes.  And I think what bothered me most about the whole thing was the incredible waste of talent of all those involved, especially Routh, whose once-promising career has been reduced to playing a self-loathing gay second-banana (all puns intended) on a third rate sitcom from two men who should know better. Shame on everyone involved with this crap. I'll be surprised if it lasts more than 3 episodes.

Honestly, I've had surgery that was less painful. "Partners" is certainly the worst sitcom of the 21st Century (and possibly of all time*). Zero Stars Out of Four.

More, anon.
Prospero

*And that includes "My Mother the Car;" "Life on a Stick" and "Cavemen."

The Gayest Thing You'll See This Week

Casey Wilson and Adam Pally on ABC's "Happy Endings"

I pretty much love ABC's current Wednesday night comedy lineup. "The Middle" is amusing (though the daughter annoys the hell out of me and Patricia Heaton's political views make me crazy). "Suburgatory" is down right hilarious, thanks to its mega-talented cast and of course, "Modern Family" is the second best network sitcom on TV (right behind NBC's brilliant "Community"). Last in the lineup is "Happy Endings," which might best be described as '"Friends" in Chicago with an edge.' The show's ensemble includes comedy progeny Damon Wayons, Jr; former SNL member Casey Wilson; "24" alum Elisha Cuthbert; Eliza Coupe (the only reason to watch the last season of "Scrubs"); Zachary Knighton of the ill-fated Sci-Fi thriller "Flash Forward" and adorable-ish bear Adam Pally.

Pally plays Max, a neurotic gay slacker with a history of failed relationships and a penchant for obscure references (last week's episode saw him dressing for the gym as Josh Brolin's character in Goonies). In last night's episode (which I still haven't seen but is saved on my DVR), Max entertained at a gay wedding, performing a drag version of Madonna's 'Like a Prayer.' I came across this clip on Towleroad, and immediately knew I had to share:

Pally is has managed to take a character most people would hate and elevate him into one people forgive his foolishness for because he's just this side of adorable. If you aren't watching "Happy Endings," you should. The smart, often sexy and always very funny ensemble help to make "Happy Endings" into what was once referred to as 'Must See TV' on another network.

More, anon.
Prospero