Squall in the family, New Fox sitcom aims high, hits low ALL EDITIONS

"No one's in charge," [Michael Rapaport] moans of the brave new social order that seems to demand of him so much more than he expected to handle. Indeed, creator [Rob Lotterstein]'s picture is an unsettling one not just in what today's culture presents to Rapaport but in wha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNewsday
Main Author Diane Werts. STAFF WRITER
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Long Island, N.Y Newsday LLC 11.09.2005
EditionCombined editions
Online AccessGet full text

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Summary:"No one's in charge," [Michael Rapaport] moans of the brave new social order that seems to demand of him so much more than he expected to handle. Indeed, creator [Rob Lotterstein]'s picture is an unsettling one not just in what today's culture presents to Rapaport but in what he presents to us. That unease on both sides feels real. But much of the specific manner in which these characters react smacks of sitcom artifice. The squabbling between the husband and wife, husband and kids, and even among the geeky eldest son (Kyle Sullivan), sly teen date-machine (Kaylee DeFer) and bed-wetting pubescent youngest (Dean Collins) lack the visceral grounding of, say, "Roseanne." In that home-front landmark, deep-rooted character truth paved the way for each quippy comeback. Here, family members tend to fling surface zingers first. The pilot episode's many quick cutaways to character confessions, daydreams or other comedic punctuation sometimes reveal something or top off a punch line. But they can also seem tossed in to quick-fix script holes.