BJ FLEMING
Staff Writer
After the fall of the superpower Axis of Comedy “Friends” and “Seinfeld,” there has been a rush within the industry to fill the gap. We are in the middle of the sitcom revolution, and a veritable conflagration of interest and innovation within the genre has ignited.
There have been victories. ABC hit “Everybody Loves Raymond” is emerging as a force to be reckoned with, but one senses that this traditional comedy will fall by the wayside as its traditional ancestors did.
More interesting are the tragic, Pyrrhic victories of shows like “Arrested Development,” “Family Guy,” and “Freaks and Geeks” which have had their greatest successes on DVD. This spurred interest and innovation in the industry. It has been recognized that there needs to be a change from the sitcoms of this generation’s childhood.
ABC’s new program “Sons and Daughters” stabs at this innovation, but does so lazily and too late in the game. Monday morning quarter-backing their way through this show (a timeslot placeholder while “Commander in Chief” is given and a face lift) producer/director Fred Goss is unflattering in his imitation of his comedic ancestors.
“Sons and Daughters” centers around the Walker family. The patriarch, Cameron Walker, is a central character. He has two sisters, some kids, some in-laws, a mom, a step-dad and a racist aunt. Honestly, it’s not important to know.
What is important is this: There are 16 “main” characters in this show. If that turns you off, read no further. It can get a little confusing.
“Sons” is one of a family of improv-based, single camera comedies with a pedigree traceable to “Arrested Development. Think “Free Ride,” which premiered the same week as “Sons” or the earlier “Significant Others.”
Using a scripted framework guilded (or mottled) with ad-lib dialogue, the players create a more believable sit for the sitcom. There’s no laugh track, and the overall feel is more personal for the viewer.
“Arrested” was invigorating in its use of this formula, and “Sons” is derivative. Goss plays the male lead, but without the likeability of Jason Bateman. Jerry Lambert plays the asexual, eccentric Tobias-esque character half as well as the quick-witted, caustic comedian David Cross. Even the background music to “Sons” is clearly inspired by but inferior to that of “Arrested” and, further back, the classic “Seinfeld.”
“Sons and Daughter’s” lackluster improvisational comedy is not completely unexpected, though.
This might be on the edge of awareness for some, but long, long ago, in the early 90s, “Saturday Night Live” was hilarious. Norm McDonald once excised laughter-based pain on my adolescent body by staring at the camera, fake news smug, for 30 seconds.
The director of the once- popular program and executive producer of “Sons”, Lorne Michaels, was a demigod of comedy, but recently he has descended and tried to bring his improv comedy voodoo to ABC. Therein lay the tragedy of Lorne Michaels.
He continued to drive “SNL” violently and ruthlessly into the ground. The Will Ferrell years were brief respite from the downward spiral, but most viewers agree it was never quite the same as during the Farley-Sandler-Myers dynasty.
Now, Michael’s has continued the spiral at ABC. His production company, Broadway Video, is backing the project. This is just one of the lower steps on his declining career in improvisation.
The few petite redeemers of “Sons” are the kids. The offspring of this motley crew, oddly, offer some of the best-timed deliveries and memorable sequences of the first three episodes.
Where the adults deliver sometimes stammering dialogue that wanders in and out of coherence, actress Eden Sher will come through with a hilariously accurate portrait of the over-bold, brace-faced, 13-year-old girl.
“When you and dad have sex, which bed do you do it in?” This line, and the rest of the show too, are not genius, but good enough to leave the remote on the coffee table.
There are gems of scenes and bits of interesting dialogue spawned by this unusual formula worth consideration, enough to warrant attention for a single episode at least. Certainly, it is preferable to the well-worn territory covered by traditional sitcoms.
03-16-2006