FOR MUST-SEE TV, TRY FOX'S SUNDAY.Byline: David Kronke TV Critic The Fox network may be hellbent on destroying what reputation it has with an ever-speeding revolving door of tacky and derivative reality shows, but its Sunday-night comedy lineup remains an oasis of sane delirium delirium Condition of disorientation, confused thinking, and rapid alternation between mental states. The patient is restless, cannot concentrate, and undergoes emotional changes (e.g., anxiety, apathy, euphoria), sometimes with hallucinations. . It's the best night of comedy on network television. As most of the returning series - Emmy winner ``Arrested Development,'' venerable anarchist ``The Simpsons'' and live-action cartoon ``Malcolm in the Middle'' - scale ever more surreal heights of absurdity, ``King of the Hill,'' the mild-mannered animated series, begins its ninth season with a nuanced, subtle parody of the celebrity gentrification gentrification, the rehabilitation and settlement of decaying urban areas by middle- and high-income people. Beginning in the 1970s and 80s, higher-income professionals, drawn by low-cost housing and easier access to downtown business areas, renovated deteriorating of formerly raw Montana. Hank and the family head to Montana to visit Peggy's estranged es·trange tr.v. es·tranged, es·trang·ing, es·trang·es 1. To make hostile, unsympathetic, or indifferent; alienate. 2. To remove from an accustomed place or set of associations. family. They are in danger of losing their ranch due to city slickers like Henry Winkler, who mocks the New Age cluelessness of New Age celebrities. Raw as Hank may be, he's no match for Montana's hardy souls, who contemptuously refer to Hank ``Hollywood'' and dismiss the exotic, big-city practice of ``makin' fancy pizzas.'' Family angst and a droll droll adj. droll·er, droll·est Amusingly odd or whimsically comical. n. Archaic A buffoon. [French drôle, buffoon, droll, from Old French drolle civics civics, branch of learning that treats of the relationship between citizens and their society and state, originally called civil government. With the large immigration into the United States in the latter half of the 19th cent. lesson collide in a thoughtful show whose low-key tone belies all that will come afterward, particularly ``Malcolm in the Middle Malcolm in the Middle is a seven-time Emmy-winning,[1] one-time Grammy-winning[1] and seven-time Golden Globe-nominated[1] American sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for the Fox Network. .'' It opens its fifth season with one of the most peculiar plot twists in sitcom history. The Army has deployed underage Reese (Justin Berfield) to Afghanistan. Malcolm (Frankie Muniz) says of his mom (Jane Kaczmarek), ``I don't know if she's upset that he's gonna get killed, or that someone else is going to do it.'' From a scene in which Kaczmarek and an Army sergeant swap cruel punishments for progeny to the evening's finale, finding Malcolm and Dewey (Erik Per Sullivan Erik Per Sullivan (born on July 12, 1991) is an American actor, perhaps best known for his role as Dewey, the younger brother to middle child Malcolm, on the FOX series Malcolm in the Middle. ) honoring Reese by wreaking havoc at an arts festival headlining rapping grannies, it's inspired stuff. Next week, Hal (Bryan Cranston) befriends a bunch of well-oiled musclemen. ``Malcolm's'' cartoonish sensibility may no longer be as novel as it once was, but it's still fizzy and funny. ``The Simpsons' '' 16th season premiere follows, with its 15th annual ``Treehouse of Horror'' compendium. Traditionally it's the season's most surreal episode (only exacerbated by the episode's increasing distance from Halloween). Tonight's installment offers a parody of ``The Dead Zone,'' in which Ned Flanders sees others' grisly futures; ``Four Beheadings and a Funeral,'' in which Lisa assumes Sherlock Holmes' role to capture a Jack-the-Ripper sort, and a ``Fantastic Voyage'' trek through Mr. Burns' ossified os·si·fy v. os·si·fied, os·si·fy·ing, os·si·fies v.intr. 1. To change into bone; become bony. 2. system. The funniest - and scariest - thing in the show is the soppy sop·py adj. sop·pi·er, sop·pi·est 1. Soaked; sopping. 2. Rainy. 3. Sentimental; maudlin. See Synonyms at sentimental. power-pop theme song for the framing sequence, a sitcom starring extraterrestrials Kodos and Kang. Finally, ``Arrested Development'' returns for its second season with Michael (Jason Bateman), the lone voice of reason in the fractiously frac·tious adj. 1. Inclined to make trouble; unruly. 2. Having a peevish nature; cranky. [From fraction, discord (obsolete). greedy Bluth clan, finding that extricating himself from his family is far more difficult than he imagined. Meanwhile, Uncle Oscar (Jeffrey Tambor) keeps getting mistaken for on-the-lam patriarch George (also Tambor) and is routinely tackled by squadrons of cops (seems he illegally built some homes in Iraq). And with Lindsay (Portia de Rossi Portia de Rossi, born Amanda Lee Rogers on January 31, 1973, is an Australian actress who is best known for her roles as lawyer Nelle Porter on the television series Ally McBeal and as Lindsay Bluth Fünke on the television series Arrested Development. ) pursuing the benefits of an open marriage, Tobias' (David Cross) efforts at finding both employment and therapy involve the Blue Man Group and end, naturally, disastrously. Laudably, Fox has supported ``Arrested Development'' despite its low ratings, but the best way it can help this sophisticated series is by developing an equally adult comedy to pair it with. It will likely lose a significant chunk of the younger family viewers from its ``Simpsons'' lead-in. The show deserves better, and since the future of broadcast comedy seems to hang in the balance, so do the rest of us. David Kronke, (818) 713-3638 david.kronke(at)dailynews.com KING OF THE HILL - Three stars What: Hank and the family visit Peg's estranged mother in Montana. Where: Fox (Channel 11). When: 7 tonight. In a nutshell: Clever and nuanced. MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE - Three stars What: The family responds to Reese's enlistment in the Army and deployment to Afghanistan. Where: Fox (Channel 11). When: 7:30 tonight. In a nutshell: Deliriously plotted. THE SIMPSONS - Three stars What: The usual bizarre grotesqueries in ``Treehouse of Horror XV "Treehouse of Horror XV" is the fifteenth Halloween episode of The Simpsons, airing November 7, 2004, one week after Halloween in the US, the latest any Halloween episode has ever aired. 11. .'' Where: Fox (Channel 11). When: 8 tonight. In a nutshell: Typically twisted. Online: Peek into the personnel files of your favorite Springfield residents and play games such as Bart's Sling Shot Shootout Shootout Venture capital jargon. Refers to two or more venture capital firms fighting for the startup. and Nelson's Whack-a-Nerd at www.thesimpsons.com/characters ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT - Three and one half stars What: Second-season premiere of the Emmy-winning comedy finds Michael (Jason Bateman) still trying to escape his family's clutches. Where: Fox (Channel 11). When: 8:30 tonight. In a nutshell: Inspired bad behavior. CAPTION(S): 4 photos Photo: (1) KING OF THE HILL (2) MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE (3) THE SIMPSONS (4) ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT |
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