WEDNESDAY, MAY 27
THE GOODE FAMILY
Tattoo, Browns, Wipeout
It’s definitely summer, judging by the long list of new and returning shows on tonight, from the new Tattoo Highway on A&E to the new season of Meet the Browns on TBS and the beloved Wipeout on ABC (well, I love it).
And then there’s ABC’s new animated sitcom, The Goode Family, a show I want to like more than I do.
That’s not to say it’s bad. In fact, there are some genuinely funny moments, which gives me hope it’ll get better down the road.
And it’s well made. It’s from Mike Judge of Fox’s King of the Hill and, before that, MTV’s Beavis and Butt-head. You can’t not root for Judge, right?
But Goode feels like a show that’s not quite there yet. It hasn’t gelled.
I’m worried by the premise. It feels thin and tapped out even in the first episode. Although, there too, there are glimmers of hope.
The show centers on the Goode family from Greenville.
They’ve gone green to the max. They’re vegans, including their starving dog. They drive a hybrid. They recycle, of course. And they do overly green things like collect elephant manure for their garden.
That premise feels a bit strained and overdone.
But there’s an underlying premise that works better. This one involves judging other people. If we were to look only at certain TV news outlets, rightwing Republicans are judgmental loons while left leaners are anything but.
But, of course, people are people. No one is all good, as no one is all bad.
The Goode family, as it turns out, has its share of prejudices, no matter how hard they try to hide these. Their prejudices make for a few funny moments in tonight’s premiere. Here’s hoping for more of that in coming episodes.
Click on Video Clips to watch a preview of The Goode Family, which premieres tonight on ABC at 9pm et/pt. Tattoo Highway and Meet the Browns are on at 10pm et/pt.
See Note & Noteworthy for more listings.
