# Any fiction about hyper-competent family people who slowly discover the value of work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 17, 2016, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112 "2016-07-17T10:31:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/41 "2016-07-18T23:06:34Z")
Charlton Heston IS The Narrator! ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/42 "2016-07-18T23:43:23Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Holy moly. Is there anything in the story they didn’t make a mess of? > > At least they keep some variation of the ending, right? Where Herc dies gruesomely, only to be deus ex machina-ed off to Mount Olympus, to become a god? That’s already kind of a tacked-on happy ending. Sounds like it would be right up Disney’s alley. > > _googles_ > > Oh. I see. They didn’t. I think I need a drink right now. A very large, very stiff drink. Should we not tell you about the Kevin Sorbo TV version of Hercules? I think there are far more Hercules stories that \*aren’t \*“Goes mad, kills family, sent on quests for some strange reason,” than that are. At least in the modern era. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/43 "2016-07-19T00:32:55Z")
Fun fact: did you know that Elton John’s middle name is Hercules?: [Elton John - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elton_John) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/44 "2016-07-19T11:59:45Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Should we not tell you about the Kevin Sorbo TV version of Hercules?. THe show did have a scene where a jealous Deianeira gives Hercules the cloak of Nessus, thinking it’ll secure his love, though, which leads to him going mad with pain and her suicide at the thought of his death, forcing him to go to the underworld and bargain with Hades. She and his kids are later all killed by Hera, so it sort of conflate the two stories. There’s yet another episode where he marries someone else, giving up his divinity to do so, and he’s then possessed by a god when he’s sleeping, who kills her. So at least his family is dead! ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112/45 "2016-07-19T14:10:04Z")
I was going to go with Night at the Museum. Ben Stiller (I mean… Larry) is all about his kids and trying to do stuff with them, to the point where he can’t hold a job down and has to take a crap job as a night watchman. Then he learns self reliance from Robin Williams (I mean… Teddy Roosevelt) and he starts his own successful company at the end. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fiction-about-hyper-competent-family-people-who-slowly-discover-the-value-of-work/760112.md?page=2)