BY GEORGE, IT'S A LOT LIKE VERY OTHER FAMILY SITCOM.Byline: David Kronke TV Critic THE ODD THING about sitcoms with minorities in the lead roles is that they essentially play like every other sitcom since the dawn of man - the cultural exigencies the stars' audience has missed seeing on television is either seriously diluted or erased altogether or reduced to a few stereotypes. Exhibit A: ``George Lopez,'' starring the genuinely amusing comic of the same name, who plays a family man running an airplane factory. Based on two episodes opening its second season, the series boasts an agreeable number of amusing punch lines per show, but overall its general adherence to formulaic plotting seems determined to prevent it from evolving into anything truly special. Tonight opens with a weirdly funny special-effects gag - Lopez's head grafted onto a child's body as he recalls highly idealized i·de·al·ize v. i·de·al·ized, i·de·al·iz·ing, i·de·al·iz·es v.tr. 1. To regard as ideal. 2. To make or envision as ideal. v.intr. 1. moments with his father (Esai Morales). George discovers his father didn't die but is still alive and simply abandoned him, generating an unpromising story arc in which he searches for him. More amusingly, his loyal wife, Angie (Constance Marie), rescues a hopelessly sick dog from a homeless man and the family goes about trying to rouse the pathetic mutt from its stuporous stu·por n. 1. A state of reduced or suspended sensibility. 2. A state of mental numbness, as that resulting from shock; a daze. See Synonyms at lethargy. state (many sitcoms wring cheap laughs from a cute pup; give ``George Lopez'' props for trying the same with a truly mangy mang·y adj. mang·i·er, mang·i·est 1. Affected with, caused by, or resembling mange. 2. Having many worn spots; shabby: a mangy old fur coat. 3. one). A future episode serves up the ``token'' plot line, as George is wooed by a competing company that merely wants him to fill an ethnic quota, while his daughter Carmen Carmen throws over lover for another. [Fr. Lit.: Carmen; Fr. Opera: Bizet, Carmen, Westerman, 189–190] See : Faithlessness Carmen the cards repeatedly spell her death. [Fr. (Masiela Lusha) wrestles with a similar ethical quandary - should she join a clique (mathematics) clique - A maximal totally connected subgraph. Given a graph with nodes N, a clique C is a subset of N where every node in C is directly connected to every other node in C (i.e. C is totally connected), and C contains all such nodes (C is maximal). of popular if cruel girls? Individual lines can be funny: George assails his daughter for subscribing to ``teenager logic - the same kind that gets you killed in horror films.'' But overall, the show doesn't dig deep enough to engage audiences as ``Everybody Loves Raymond Everybody Loves Raymond is an American sitcom originally broadcast on CBS from 1996 to 2005. It is one of the most critically acclaimed American sitcoms of its time. ,'' a clear influence, does, and performances thus far remain content with obviousness. And if, as is the case tonight, a comic still thinks an annoying singing bass plaque is funny, what does that say about the sitcom? GEORGE LOPEZ - Two and one half stars What: Second-season premiere of the family sitcom starring the stand-up stand·up or stand-up adj. 1. Standing erect; upright: a standup collar. 2. Taken, done, or used while standing: a standup supper; a standup bar. comic. Where: ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. (Channel 7). When: 8:30 tonight. In a nutshell: Decent laughs, but programmatic scripting and perfunctory performances. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Esai Morales, left, guest stars as the lost father of George, right, on the season premiere of ``The George Lopez Show.'' |
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