While everybody devours all these new...and crappy...series on Netflix, I have been spending my time revisiting something I might have watched years ago. Or sample something that was a hit but overlooked by yours truly.
Over the past several years, I have watched an episode a night of the following:
Picket Fences...a show I loved originally but was astounded how much more I could adore it on a second spin.
Ally McBeal...a show that was all the rage twenty five years ago that I missed. Until now. And I realize what all the talk was about. Ally McBeal was a creative treasure.
Hot in Cleveland...I had missed the last three seasons of its original run. On second look, I know why. But it is still a better sitcom than anything on the air in 2023.
So my newest revisit is Family, which aired on ABC in the late 70s. I remember some of it. But as I go through Season 2, a lot of it is new to me. And clearly a wonderment.
A very simple yet complex look at a Pasadena family. You know the bar is high here, considering that Mike Nichols is the producer and Jay Presson Allen is the creator. It can't help but be good with that pedigree. But the cast is what drives this one over the finish line.
Sada Thompson and James (Matthew's dad) Broderick are quietly imposing as the parents with their grown children played by Gary Frank and Meredith Baxter Birney. The latter's character was played...horrifically...by another actress in the first season of six episodes. The producers obviously saw what we all saw and fired her for Season 2. Indeed, there is a slight tone change in the whole show from Season 1 to Season 2 that is signaled by a more upbeat theme song and opening. It makes all the difference as the Lawrence family becomes much more humor with snapshots of both drama and a little levity. Just like life.
As good as the cast is, the show is stolen by one Kristy McNichol who is a marvel that needs to be working more in 2023. I'm not even sure she is working at all. Nevertheless, she won several Emmys for Family and her natural energy is a pleasure to watch.
Later on, the series is also bolstered by the addition of young Quinn Cummings who also elevates the cast to another level. It all meshes together wonderfully as the family next door which has the same problems your family may have. Or not. Indeed, Family is magically ordinary. And that's a good thing.
God bless reruns.
Dinner last night: Korean fried chicken at the Cheesecake Factory.
No comments:
Post a Comment