Saget stars in new sitcom ‘Suburbia’
ABC series looks, feels like typical comedy with annoying laugh track
While listlessly gazing upon the pilot episode for ABC’s “Surviving Suburbia,” I found myself pondering a question: Which ultimately will be more difficult to fix – our broken down economy, or television’s shopworn sitcom genre?
Maybe that Obama guy doesn’t have it so tough, after all.
It’s not that “Suburbia,” starring Bob Saget as a cynical dad, is a horrible show. In fact, it’s not even ABC’s worst sitcom right now. That honor would go to “In the Motherhood.”
It’s just that it has no real reason for being. It’s a series that looks and feels like hundreds of other sitcoms, with the same kind of tone, the same forced one-liners and the same ridiculously annoying laugh track.
When are clueless network executives going to realize this approach just doesn’t work anymore?
Saget plays Bob Patterson, husband to a sweet and mostly understanding wife (Cynthia Stevenson) and parent to a couple of precocious children (Jared Kusnitz and G Hannelius).
Set up in a cozy house in an idyllic neighborhood, the Pattersons appear to possess their own little slice of the American dream.
If only bitter Bob could enjoy it. But he doesn’t exactly fit in with the ’burbs. He can’t be bothered with mundane things, such as making nice with the neighbors or taking care of their fish while they’re on vacation.
Basically, he’s a great big sourpuss.
Perhaps some will find Saget’s turn to the dark side modestly amusing. After all, we mostly know him as the smiley-faced “Full House” dad.
On the other hand, there is no real edge and/or interesting wrinkles to his new character. And nothing against Saget, but is there really anyone out there just dying to see him starring in a new show? (And I mean, besides his closest relatives?)
Believe it or not, there once was a time when ABC actually knew how to produce family sitcoms that made viewers care. The press release for “Suburbia” even hints at those glory days with references to “Roseanne” and “Home Improvement.”
But it’s pretty safe to say “Suburbia” won’t come close to approaching that level of popularity.
Too bad for ABC that there’s no such thing as a creative stimulus package.