 Oh, Grow Up (ABC) Please give me the name of the programming genius that thought this was a "winner" so I can hunt him down and kick his neck. Quick premise: artist guy, womanizer guy who learns he has a college-aged daughter, and gay-formerly-married-to-semi-babe guy all live together with a dog and interact with said daughter and said gay-guy's ex-wife between musical Us3-esque snippets. Who the hell cares. Even the suggestion that the show should be retitled The Gay Guy, The Sudden Dad, and the Other One couldn't possibly help. I defy any human with a soul to find any redeeming qualities in this half hour whatsoever. Guys: all annoying "Neanderthal" caricatures. Chicks: mildly hot, yet still intensely annoying (which negates their "hotness" per the Arthur Fonzarelli principle c. 1956). Which brings me to the most disappointing aspect of the show: the dog. Yes, the dog … which is named "Mom" and which we can understand through the magic of subtitles. Sounds like a recipe for comedy-magic? Oh, contraire. Somehow defying all known laws of comedy, the talking-dog trick not only fails to save ths show, but actually increases the pain threshold significantly. Example: At the very beginning of the show, from upstairs/offscreen, we hear the womanizer and his paramour du jour in the throes of passion. The dog jumps on the couch and barks. Subtitle: "Make it stop!" Make it stop indeed. I wish I could give you moreexamples, but have purposely ingested several dirty martinis in an attempt to quickly blot the show from memory.
Review by The Bat © 1999 |