Open Thread: ABC’s ‘The Goode Family’ 9/8c—Back-to-Back Episodes
by Big Hollywood
Review, debate, discuss back-to-back episodes of ABC’s “The Goode Family”: “Pleatherheads” (9/8c) and “Goodes Gone Wild” (9:30/8:30c).
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43 Comments
okay, the football one was "good", but not great (with some fun moment).. the Yoga bit was one of the "great" moments ("I think the BENGALS do Yoga.. (they picked one of the worst teams in the NFL to use for that joke
"… but Gutterball episode has me laughing at the ironies… a liberal pc (pet saver) wanting to kill off an endangered animal….
My wife thought I was laughing at nothing.. til she got the Dog/Squirrels scenes and the shaving of the racoon…
That episode had me laughing so loud the entire family came running to find out what was going on.
If the next episodes are this good, this will give King of the Hill a run for their money (and I say that as a huge fan that lives in Texas).
Gutterball is now my new favorite cartoon animal.
I have to give Mike Judge a lot of credit. As often as right-wingers are unjustly accused of being mean-spirited, Judge (and his co-creators) clearly love these characters so the ribbing is extremely good-natured. I don't even see this as political satire anymore. King of the Hill featured a bunch of quirky and conservative characters in situational comedy plots. This features a bunch of quirky and liberal characters in situational comedy plots. I actually suspect the show will become more and more character and plot driven and the political japes will become merely background.
Haven't seen the episodes yet, but planning to watch in 20 minutes. Last week's premere showed promise. Judge's previous work is good
i don't think the Japes will ever be "background"., it would kind of defeat the total purpose of the show. but he did a nice job defining Mom a little better, in both episodes.. she's a 'closet football fan' (she even "tried " to get in with grandDad when he was watching the game during the PETA-jab show)… who's desperate to get her father's love.
PS: Granddad is definitely my fave character so far.. even when he made some weird outta-the-blue comments.
Thought both episodes were pretty funny, but "Goodes gone Wild" was hilarious. I almost thought I was watching KofH, I was laughing so hard.
For the first half of "Pleatherheads" I was laughing almost non-stop! I love this show!
We've got 'em on tape this time. Will definitely be looking forward to watching these between Red Eye episodes.
Gutterball was disgusting, but I think we've finally figured out what species Stimpy is from. Tri-vulg.
Its a good show. 3 for 3. Even had my 17 yr old LOL. Anyone know the ratings yet?
At last something worthy to watch on a network tv.
I enjoyed the show tonight. Each episode had a laugh out loud moment. The first was "torture the pig".
Judge knows what he's doing, and I hope this doesn't get canceled.
I've enjoyed each episode so far. Definitely developing the characters in interesting ways.
Just watched the first episode on DVR.
I'm convinced that it takes place in Austin– a town that's saturated with bicycle hippies, rich liberals, college campuses, and happens to be the headquarters of Whole Foods. The Goode's home and its decor is an ideal model for most of the houses within the city limits (with the exception of solar panels). I actually appreciate the Whole Foods/young professional culture of Austin, but the ridiculous left wing morality sours it.
I also noticed that the show is getting mixed reviews. I think the critics are making unfair comparisons to King of the Hill, which had years to develop. All pilot shows start out weak, but I see potential with this. Besides, it's Mike Judge; I don't think he's ever done something I've disliked.
I really liked these episodes! I thought the pilot was a little heavy handed with the jokes and I enjoyed these episodes ALOT more.
Like Peggy Hill, Helen Goode seems to be the one always engaging in crazy shinanigans while Gerald Goode, like Hank Hill seems to be the moral center of their family. Very nice to see fathers being portrayed so postively, even when they're looney liberals! Of course I would hope that both parents be portrayed in a good light, but it's all part of Mike Judge's response to culture to make the moms of the series a little looney, I suppose.
I loved the more even handed humor this time around. There wasn't an attempt to make a joke about being "Goode" every five minutes like there was in the pilot. It reminded me of a reverse King of the Hill. Awesome!
You know what would be awesome? A "Goode Family", "King of the Hill" Crossover!
By the way, as strong as this show is, I don't know if it's going to get good ratings on ABC. Perhaps FOX could jump in, dump one of Seth McFarland's shows and replace it with this one? McFarland will have three shows on FOX this fall: Family Guy, American Dad, and The Clevland Show. Maybe they could dump American Dad?
I also heard that Mike Judge and FOX had a falling out.
Agreed. It would be awesome if when KOTH closes out Nancy Gribble got a job in wherever-the-hell state the Goode family lives and Dale moves next door. Dale Gribble would be awesome in this show.
ABC did right with this show. If you can't catch it on it's air date be sure to check it out on ABC's webpage. They have sposons there, as well as a reliable way to track viewership.
The shows were OK. Several laugh out loud moments, but still really uneven. It seems like they are still searching for what they're trying to say. Right now the old man has most of the best lines. The line about Indians not needing college made me fall off my chair.
Hopefully they tighten it up quickly. It's a great idea and I'd hate to see them waste the opportunity.
I guess I was hoping that the characters would be less lovable! Crazy liberals have hearts too and struggle with their own moral standards! Who would've thought?
I dunno about the Bliss character.. so far, she hasn't been endearing at all to me… (although the bribery suggestion by the Public School official (and the entire scene) was absolutely hilarious on so many levels.)
It looks like the post-premiere episodes are developing the characters. It is nice to see that there is some depth and (gads, can I say it) empathy for the Goodes.
Poor Helen cannot get affirmation from her boorish dad. I could even agree with Ubuntu and dad's revulsion at killing the pig.
And yes, laugh out loud funny.
I noticed that almost all if not all of the advertising was environment-oriented. Seemed somewhat odd to me. I would expect a Miller commercial or something.
To quote Hank Hill: "Ugh. Austinites."
Bliss is a teenage girl, have you met any real teenage girls that are very endearing? It might be Judge's most realistic character to date. She is mortified by her parents, yearns to be accepted by a loser guy with holes in his face, and prone to dramatic interpretations (the community college zombies)…. reminds me of myself at that age and every other teenage girl I knew!
Right!
The Prius commercial (with all the flower-world animation) comes on and you half-wonder whether you're back to the show, and the shot is going to pull away from the TV screen to the Goode's watching the Prius commercial.
Another enviroTaliban commercial is the GE – We'll Build Barack Obama's Utopia for You commercial.
It would be easy to portray the dad as a wimp. But he displayed genuine courage to save the pig and won the respect of the the football dads. His subsequent desire to summarily execute the endangered tri-vulge, Gutterball, is enough to give you moral whiplash.
Sorry, Dude. But, the Goodes are based here in the lovely liberal Berkeley-of-the-Midwest… Madison, Wisconsin. (Did you notice that the mom was wearing a #4 football jersey!?!?!?)
Football "rehearsals" and "auditions"…
"I want a dog that barks at immigrants." …
"You never slam the door when your sober." …
"Indians don't need college." …
"You think Ubuntu would be good at football? I just don't see it." …
"Please don't slap my bottom." …
"These pets are a substitute for a husband and children."
"I'm going to go soak in the hot tub and hope to get pregnant."
Nose-piercings on the scary animal rights activists.
Freakishly manly lesbians in the football stands.
Praying that God will keep their boys safe, and will give them the power to beat the crap out of their opponents.
The dog named Che. (single-handedly eradicating the squirrel population)
Man… what an amazing show! Very cool. I hope it lives to tell the tale.
Eagerly awaiting the New Hollywood.
Does anyone else think Ubuntu is an annoying character? I guess I'm just tired of the same old "slow" son character in every frickin' sitcom on tv. Seems the only two smart sons I can recall is Alex P. Keaton from "Family Ties" and Brian from "Still Standing".
Also, I think they should give a bigger role to the black neighbor. How awesome was it that he was listening to a fishing show on the radio!? In his gas-guzzling pick-up. And I'm not crazy about fishing.
Yep! Pretty creepy.
I noticed the irony of the dog named Che too. Everyone in the family thinks Che is like them. In reality, Che is the scourge of the neighborhood.
I loved the subtle stuff, such as when Ubuntu is caught sneaking a football magazine in his backpack, and when asked why he has it says, "The people in the pictures look like me."
That's a good point. They love Che, but Che's actually a killer. Just like real life. But, the difference is that this Che is justified.
I thought the Pleatherheads episode was a little predictable and I thought the pig killing was an unfair stereotype of sports fans (and I wouldn't have cared about sports fans being ridiculed fairly) but the second episode was a really good. I was thinking about Gutterball when I was half asleep this morning. That episode showed how good this show could become.
"The Goode Family" rated fifth in its slot, behind Univisions's "Manana es Para Siempre" and something on the CW called "Hitched or Ditched." Not a great sign that they ran two back to back…smells like a summertime burn-off to me. The football ep was cute but the tri-volg joke ran on a bit long for me and grandpa's attachment to it seemed out of character for the little time we've known him. Bliss' pimply love interest is totally Beavis after somehow getting his G.E.D. And between the dykey football "dads" and the Animals or Else lady, I've never seen so many cartoon lesbians!
I would expect there to be more Wisconsin accents. But I support my theory with the fact that Mike Judge lives in Austin too.
Bud Bundy in "Married With Children" was a smart son.
As far as the neighbor, he resembles a Mexican as much as a black in appearance. Since the Goodes debated the PC name for his race in the pilot episode with no resolution chances are his race will remain ambiguous to provide comedic fodder.
No… it's pretty clear he's black. In the pilot he "admitted" that the secret meeting where blacks decide what we're to be called next is held in Memphis.
Dump all of McFarland's shows. He sucks on ice.
Likely the "suits" buying the advertising didn't even notice. Irony is lost on people so stupid they think the world will end from Global Warming.
Well it's easy to see a lot of Hank in Ray. I cant be the only one who saw that.
"One minute I'm playing with dolls and the next I'm dressing Ken as a Raider and burning him in effigy."
Helen has actually come to be my favorite character.
Just saw the two episodes on ABC's website – the series is going to be geater than King of the Hill by a long shot. The "Gutterball" episode had me rolling on the floor.
All the episodes can be seen here:
http://abc.go.com/primetime/thegoodefamily/index
just click watch free episodes and download the player if you haven't already.
I liked the one with the yard workers. "Gotta have white!"
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