Comments on: Open Thread: ABC’s “The Goode Family” 9/8c

By: John S

John S — Sat, 30 May 2009 16:30:25 +0000

What's interesting about this show is that the Goode family is actually very conservative. The opposite sex parents are happily married, their 16 year old daughter is a straight virgin, and their son is competent, obedient and has no discernible vices. The worst behavior on the show was mom knocking back a couple of glasses of wine after dinner.

It's as if Ozzie and Harriet decided, just for laughs, to try living la vida lefty for a while.

By: eric

eric — Fri, 29 May 2009 07:54:26 +0000

You nailed it. King of the Hill was "milder." It was not preachy.

I am going to give the Goode Family time to develop, but I am not sure how they can drag this out. Mike Judge is brilliant, but what made King of the Hill work was that it poked fun in a softer manner.

Yes, this is much better than leftist drivel, but I totally agree that the South Park Smug episode was hysterical.

This has potential. We shall see.

eric aka the Tygrrrr Express

By: sharpshiny

sharpshiny — Fri, 29 May 2009 00:25:37 +0000

Dude, listen to the DVD commentary. South Park's main target was Al Gore the man, not so much the global warming religion.

But like I said, I hope I'm wrong. I really do. And when I think about it, the first few episodes of South Park left me pretty cold, too. So best of luck to Judge and the show. It certainly shows great courage to take on the targets they did, and I will keep watching.

By: 2508bona

2508bona — Thu, 28 May 2009 22:45:59 +0000

WeaponX: See my point above. I like to have a character to root for in an animated series and, apart from Goode and Bliss, no such candidates jump out at me just yet. But maybe the grandfather (who still hasn't been properly introduced) will be a dark horse contender.

By: Pinbot

Pinbot — Thu, 28 May 2009 21:39:13 +0000

I think the whole family will be treated fairly sympathetically. I enjoyed the subtlety of the jabs. The show isn't making fun of the characters as much as it is making fun of the dilemmas of trying to do all the PC stuff we are told we should be doing. This is where the show parts company with more mean-spirited shows like South Park and Family Guy.

Mike Judge seems to be driven mainly by common sense. I don't at all mind that he also pointed out some of the obvious creepiness of abstinence programs. All told, I was pleasantly surprised that it was not a full-on hatchet job of liberals. I see it as more of a wake up call to people who take it all way too seriously, on both sides of the fence. Like King of the Hill, this show appears aggressively moderate to me.

By: Fabius

Fabius — Thu, 28 May 2009 20:47:43 +0000

I was pleasantly surprised, even though I was afraid that it would have a tough time poking fun at the main characters (if they're the target of scorn, it's hard to make them central, the audience has to like something about them). But it did this well by picking on more radical targets such as the Whole Foods store and the shoppers there. Like King of the Hill, the humor is based on the characters, it's not the jokes in and of themselves that are funny but who the character saying the joke is. Hank Hill's references to Tom Landry were funny not because Tom Landry is funny, but because we can identify with the quirks in Hanks personality for Tom Landry. I think the Goode Family will work the same way. Give it a little time, and it could be very good.

By: no one

no one — Thu, 28 May 2009 20:14:01 +0000

Um, that last point was made just a little while ago by a guy named Groucho Marx on an episode of the Dick Cavett show.

By: OSweet

OSweet — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:53:40 +0000

Reminds me that (the smug-left-winger) Bob Wright over at bloggingheads.tv feeds his dog Spoon-Size Shredded Wheat.

By: OSweet

OSweet — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:51:50 +0000

Good point – and with the next-door neighbor a black guy – middle-class, mild-mannered and truck-driving – they're set up to expand on that theme. Hope they do.

"Do you guys have a yearly convention…."

"It's in Memphis."

Lol.

By: Max Cady

Max Cady — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:35:44 +0000

Saw it a while ago. I actually laughed during this episode. Not chuckle, genuine laughter. When was the last time I felt that during a Family Guy episode.

Che the dog, in particular cracks me up. Ubuntu also gets some great laughs.

Of course, by storyline, there's isn't exactly any groundbreaking stuff here, but nice enough.

Ah, this is gonna be great.