FOX'S NEW SITCOM REALLY 'GROUNDED' IN STUPIDITY.Byline: - David Kronke Since ``Tucker,'' that ground-breaking ``Malcolm in the Middle'' rip-off that strove to bring smut smut, name for an order of parasitic fungi (Ustilaginales) and the various diseases of plants caused by them. Smuts produce sootlike masses of spores on the host. to the family sitcom, got axed fairly quickly, you'd think that there would be no clamoring for a ``Tucker'' rip-off anytime soon. But here we are with ``Grounded for Life,'' a nigh-unwatchable hunk of sludge about a standard-issue dysfunctional family dysfunctional family Psychology A family with multiple 'internal'–eg sibling rivalries, parent-child– conflicts, domestic violence, mental illness, single parenthood, or 'external'–eg alcohol or drug abuse, extramarital affairs, gambling, . Sean and Claudia Finnerty (Donal Logue Donal Francis Logue (born February 27, 1966[1][2]) is a Canadian actor. Biography Early life Logue was born in Ottawa, Ontario. His father was once a Catholic missionary in Africa where he met Donal's mother, Elizabeth, where they and Megyn Price), the parents of this brood, are shmoes who married and began a family in their teens. As a result, they're scarcely more mature than their unruly kids, a savvy pubescent pubescent /pu·bes·cent/ (pu-bes´int) 1. arriving at the age of puberty. 2. covered with down or lanugo. pu·bes·cent adj. 1. daughter (Lynsey Bartilson) and two generically raucous sons (Griffin Frazen and Jake Burbage) who only coincidentally aren't named Malcolm and Dewey. ``Grounded'' also steals directly from Fox's other recent comedy success, ``Titus,'' by including Sean's dumb slacker brother (Kevin Corrigan, channeling Christopher Walken) and viciously spiteful father (Richard Riehle), complete with that show's flashbacks to past family atrocities. The only amusing sequence in two episodes had the father ransacking ran·sack tr.v. ran·sacked, ran·sack·ing, ran·sacks 1. To search or examine thoroughly. 2. To search carefully for plunder; pillage. his sons' room for drugs - he even sampled the iron filings in their Etch- A-Sketch - but obliviously tossing aside their bong bong 1 n. A deep ringing sound, as of a bell. v. bonged, bong·ing, bongs v.tr. To cause to sound with a deep ringing noise. v.intr. . The apparently held-at-gunpoint studio audience, on the other hand, guffaw guf·faw n. A hearty, boisterous burst of laughter. intr.v. guf·fawed, guf·faw·ing, guf·faws To laugh heartily and boisterously. [Probably imitative. uncontrollably at lines like ``I'm going to associate sex with having fried food thrown at me'' and ``Why don't you go into the bathroom and flush your face?'' Which is hardly fun for the whole family. Otherwise, this is just another ill-fated sitcom variation with mix-and-match, standard-issue characters that don't even bother to blend convincingly. ``GROUNDED FOR LIFE'' What: Dysfunctional family sitcom. The stars: Donal Logue, Megyn Price, Kevin Corrigan, Lynsey Bartilson, Richard Riehle. Where: Fox (Channel 11). When: 8:30 tonight. Our rating: one star CAPTION(S): photo Photo: On ``Grounded for Life,'' debuting tonight, Fox introduces to TV viewers the latest dysfunctional family since the Connors. |
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