i don’t particularly like it. it’s stuck in a no-mans-land of classic/believable sitcom, and outrageously nutty slapsticky sitcom. i loved malcolm because every episode was such a beautiful parody of the topic d’jeur. folk dancing, magnet programs, bedazzlers, driver’s license, etc. this show stops just short of full out wacky. i’m not sure it’s a good thing.
The show is passable. Passable.
I like the show. The parents are pretty realistic and the family’s social/economic status is something a lot of people can relate to. Sue Heck is cute as a button but awkward and lacking in confidence. But she keeps getting up no matter how many times she gets knocked over. Axle is kind of a little turd but he’s a typical HS boy. Brick is kind of annoying, sort of like Nicholas Bradford with less social skills. For a family sitcom, it has a ton more credibility than the Cosby show ever did.
Am I the only one wondering how the older son can be comfortable walking around the house in boxers all day? This is supposed to be a lower-middle-class household in Indiana, so my guess is that the house is chilly at least six months out of the year. (Not to mention that he’s at the age that spontaneous erections are frequent.)
i walked around the house in boxers all the time when i was in HS. my mom would yell at me, my sister would yell at me but… meh… didn’t bother me.
Same here. No sister, and all Mom would say “Well, at least you have underwear on” while giving Dad the stink eye. Also that was more of a spring/summer thing.
One of the small things I like about this show is that the inside of the house seems more like a real household. If you watch, there are smudges and worn paint around the light switches, there are obvious chips and scratches on the walls, the furniture will be worn in the right places and the general messes look authentic. I have never seen a house that looked as “lived in” on a TV show.
Besides that, I really like the show. It is quirky, so I excude the over-the-top performances of some of the charactors.
If I had a body like that, I’d walk around in less than boxers. And what do you mean, *“lower-*middle-class”? They are middle-middle-class."
I just watched the episode with Doris Roberts. I was waiting for her and Patricia Heaton to start calling each other Marie and Debra.
I like it. No, it’s not as great as Malcolm in the Middle, but it’s solid. It’s gotten a little better as it goes along. I love Sue Heck and her eternal optimism, her gay boyfriend, and Reverend Tim Tom. I don’t know if I’d like it as much if I didn’t have teens myself. I watch it with my teenaged daughters and we have a good laugh.
My favorite thing so far was when the mother went to the store to get diapers for some reason - maybe the daughter was babysitting and ran out? - and when she asked the teenaged boy clerk where the diapers were, he directed her to the Depends aisle. I feel like that could happen to me soon.
I think that because Patricia Heaton is starting to show her age, she wears her hair to cover her face as much as she can.
The kid who plays Brick has glass bone disease. He’s very small because of it - he’s 12 years old. His eyeballs are blue because of it, as well.
I still remember when I got my first job in a supermarket at 16 and my manger telling me to always direct the customer to the baby aisle if they ask that no matter how old they are. Also on Senior Citizen never ask anyone (especially a woman) if they were over 55 or mention the discount in anyway. Just give it to them without askin if the looked over 65 or say nothing.