Television in the summertime used to mean all night marathons of classic tv shows on Nick at Nite. As a result, "Bewitched" and "I Dream of Jeannie" still haunt my dreams. Now networks have decided that shows about fat people bouncing off of giant rubber balls is worthy of prime time.
I gave "The Goode Family" a chance because it was created by animation and satire genre genius Mike Judge, better known for "Beavis & Butthead" and "King of Hill". I spent many a Sunday night as a youth watching Hank Hill's latest moral dilemma.
The Goodes are a family of politically correct, eco-friendly vegans who drive a hybrid car. The audience can tell it's a hybrid because it has HYBRID in painted on the car. Judge is trying to go in the opposite direction of King of Hill while playing close to his usual themes.
The Hills and the Goodes, on paper, look like families with different completely different values but after watching the double feature that aired on ABC tonight, the shows' themes remain the same. If you strip down the shoes to core, they both showcase well-meaning fathers that never quite seem to get it right, intensely morally upright mothers who are just seeking acceptance, and socially outcast children that find pleasure in things their parents will never understand.
Maybe Judge believes that he has direct insight into the plight of the American family. And while he may be more tapped in than other adults, he seems to be running this family into the ground.
That being said, tonight's episodes did actually make me laugh a couple of times out loud. Anytime a show creates its own disgusting Sri Lankan animal with green ooze pouring out of its skin wins a couple of points with me.
Overall, I will probably give the show another chance because there really is nothing else on in this summer. Especially because I have seen every repeat of "I Love Lucy".
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