TV: The War at Home
“The War at Home” clues you in to its main focus with its title. It’s pretty much about parents that only kind of get along with each other and their kids. Think “Married…With Children,” only not as funny.
The show wants you to think it’s edgy and tackles the subjects that no other sitcom will tackle. It thinks that in itself will make it funny (or perhaps make up for it not being that funny). For example, Dave (the dad, played by Michael Rapaport) thinks his son Larry (Kyle Sullivan) is gay, and he doesn’t like it. He brings up things at the dinner table like, “Hey, that so-and-so is hot, huh?” Larry, of course, isn’t gay. Then there’s the teenage daughter Hillary (Kaylee Defer), who tries to put things over on her parents, and who’s dating a black guy. Her dad doesn’t like that either (Ooh! Such edginess!).
Of course we find out later that mom Vicky (Anita Barone) has slept with all sorts of men (because they obviously didn’t have that conversation before they were married), including the father of the particular guy whom the daughter is dating. This isn’t seen as a serious thing, mind you. It just gets on Michael Rapaport’s nerves so that he can be annoyed all the time. Isn’t that the only kind of character he plays, you ask? Actually, sometimes he does scared, too. There’s another kid named Mike (Dean Collins), too, who I’m sure will serve some kind of purpose eventually, but I’m not going to be tuning in to find out what that purpose might be.
The show does have its moments, but on the whole it seems to run out of steam halfway through the pilot episode, and you get the feeling that they don’t really have anymore jokes. That’s not a good sign.
Final Score: 1.5 cents.
The show wants you to think it’s edgy and tackles the subjects that no other sitcom will tackle. It thinks that in itself will make it funny (or perhaps make up for it not being that funny). For example, Dave (the dad, played by Michael Rapaport) thinks his son Larry (Kyle Sullivan) is gay, and he doesn’t like it. He brings up things at the dinner table like, “Hey, that so-and-so is hot, huh?” Larry, of course, isn’t gay. Then there’s the teenage daughter Hillary (Kaylee Defer), who tries to put things over on her parents, and who’s dating a black guy. Her dad doesn’t like that either (Ooh! Such edginess!).
Of course we find out later that mom Vicky (Anita Barone) has slept with all sorts of men (because they obviously didn’t have that conversation before they were married), including the father of the particular guy whom the daughter is dating. This isn’t seen as a serious thing, mind you. It just gets on Michael Rapaport’s nerves so that he can be annoyed all the time. Isn’t that the only kind of character he plays, you ask? Actually, sometimes he does scared, too. There’s another kid named Mike (Dean Collins), too, who I’m sure will serve some kind of purpose eventually, but I’m not going to be tuning in to find out what that purpose might be.
The show does have its moments, but on the whole it seems to run out of steam halfway through the pilot episode, and you get the feeling that they don’t really have anymore jokes. That’s not a good sign.
Final Score: 1.5 cents.
Tha Docta's two cents. | 2:19 PM
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