In today’s television world, the basic family sitcom is as trite as can be. I mean, I saw a little bit of the show “Still Standing” the other day and before I was completely nauseated I had to run to my first season DVD of “Grounded for Life” to remind myself that the genre can be done very well. It just seems like you have to have, like this show did, a great cast of very funny people and writers that aren’t basing their show on the abysmal show Jim Belushi crapped out during the same time frame. Not since Chavo Guerrero has….okay, that’s the low road; but I think you know what I mean. Anyway, despite all the hacky and terrible television out there, a gem like “Grounded for Life” had to be cancelled, switch networks and move nights, but it still shines in syndication and even though I’ve seen them all multiple times, I can’t get enough of the show.
The Finnerty clan was started in the back of a van by two teenagers in lust. And having grown up in a neighborhood where half of my friends were created this way, I can attest that these families can work. Claudia and Sean were two teens in New York and they were metal heads. You know how that goes, so they had their baby. Fast forward a little and we are at the present day. We’ve got that first baby in high school, and two more boys. Along with that Sean’s slacker teenage brother is now a slacking almost forty year old, and his dad is still a big part of their lives. Add in some neighbors that they hate but their son deflowers that baby….and you’ve got a very bad sounding sentence lady and gentlemen.
Richard Riehle is one of my favorite people to just kind of show up places. He is Grandpa Walt in this show and is my favorite character. He is just a grumpy old man, and since he lost his wife about the same time he became a very young grandpa, I can see why he’s so testy. The only problem I have with this show is that he becomes less important as the show goes on. As they put in Brad, the neighbor kid, more, Walt tends to be forced of plots. When he does rear his head, his attitude and ornery attitude make the screen come alive.
Look at that magic.
Speaking of Brad, he was the kind of manic energy the kid plots needs. The youngest son Henry was just weird and gross. He rarely was more than a tag along. He was funny, just not all that important. Jimmy was always neurotic, and as a teen very awkward. He was a dork and even had a fro. He suffered big time from middle child syndrome because of his sister. Hell, she acquired so much attention that Henry probably had middle child syndrome too. The lone female in the young Finnerty sect was Lily. She was the pale skinned, red headed, thick cheerleader than people wish actually existed. Actually, at my high school it did, but I’d rather not mention names (not like she reads this.) She was a loud brat though and caused constant trouble for her family. There was a baby born at the end of the show, but whatever.
They look happy, but Lily is slowly killing them all.
Uncle Eddie is really the point of contention for this show. He brings such a weird element to the typical family sitcom. He brings the seedy element of the New York underground to prime time. His wacky schemes often got him in trouble, and his free-wheeling attitude somehow managed to ever get him in trouble. He and his brother open up a bar later in the series and that gives him a little stability. Before that though, he tended to just bring people over to shoot porn in his brother’s house while he’s on vacation. Whatever it takes man.
"I'm sayin'"
The main players here are of course Sean and Claudia. Sean is Irish. He’s a little stereotypical. He’s kind of short, redheaded and angry. He often overreacts and when his daughter lost her virginity, he smacked Brad with Christmas ornaments. That kind of angry. It’s a good kind of anger. He’s the kind of father I assume Louis C.K. will be when his girls grow up. Claudia is not your typical mom either. She is pretty much a smart ass and capable of using her good looks to bend the men around her. They are both young and hilarious.
What was I talking about?
Aside from the main cast, there were a ton of funny people on this show, including pretty much everyone from “That 70’s Show.” The whole show is just funny. It’s a sitcom, so it has to be packed with laughs, and these mainly aren’t cheap ones. The show is mainly told in flashback, so what better way to appreciate it than in retrospect?
I forgot to mention Sister Helen, but she's a great foil to this family. She's also the funniest nun this side of Whoopi.
Credit goes to: IMDB.com, sharetv.org, mylot.com, autumnreeser.com, dvdtalk.com, wn.com.