FOX COVERS ITS BASES WITH SUNDAY COMEDIES.Byline: David Kronke TV Critic THE FOX NETWORK'S motto this fall - ``It's good to be bad'' - seems to comment, with desperate hopefulness, on such new Fox shows as ``Fastlane,'' ``Firefly'' and the recently canceled ``girls club,'' which are just plain bad. It certainly doesn't relate to Fox's postseason baseball coverage - as the Anaheim Angels will tell you, it's better to be good. Now, finally, it's time for Fox's acclaimed Sunday lineup to premiere, and perhaps the best news is that Fox's long-threatened new series ``The Grubbs'' is nowhere in sight (better still, with the show getting bounced from its premiere date, it may never make the airwaves). Of course, the second-best news is that Fox's long-running Sunday series remain as strong as ever, as evidenced by the season premieres of ``The Simpsons,'' ``Malcolm in the Middle'' and ``King of the Hill.'' Tonight on ``King of the Hill,'' Hank (voiced by series creator Mike Judge) remains the same stolid stol·id adj. stol·id·er, stol·id·est Having or revealing little emotion or sensibility; impassive: "the incredibly massive and stolid bureaucracy of the Soviet system" Texas disciplinarian he's always been. He steers son Bobby's musical tastes away from gangsta rap (``When I was your age, we had these things called 'songs' '') and toward sappy boy-band simpering sim·per v. sim·pered, sim·per·ing, sim·pers v.intr. To smile in a silly, self-conscious, often coy manner. v.tr. , even agreeing to chaperone chaperone /chap·er·one/ (shap´er-on) someone or something that accompanies and oversees another. molecular chaperone Bobby and his pals to a concert, only to discover 4 Skore isn't as simperingly sim·per v. sim·pered, sim·per·ing, sim·pers v.intr. To smile in a silly, self-conscious, often coy manner. v.tr. innocent as he imagined. Hank must also contend with irresponsibly permissive parents and the issue of how much parenting is indeed necessary in contemporary society. It's a typically cagey ca·gey also ca·gy adj. ca·gi·er, ca·gi·est 1. Wary; careful: a cagey avoidance of a definite answer. 2. Crafty; shrewd: a cagey lawyer. , well-observed episode of an underrated series. ``Malcolm in the Middle'' was assailed last season for losing a little of its edgy point of view, but it returns tonight in fine form with Malcolm (Frankie Muniz) in full-throttle existential crisis. Parents Lois (Jane Kaczmarek) and Hal (Bryan Cranston) drag the family to the zoo, where Hal's too obsessed ob·sess v. ob·sessed, ob·sess·ing, ob·sess·es v.tr. To preoccupy the mind of excessively. v.intr. with his wife's premarital social life to keep track of the kids - bully Reese (Justin Berfield) is off butting heads with goats while 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. ) wind up imperiled in a tiger's cage. ``Why does the universe think it has to almost kill me to get a point across?'' Malcolm ponders, in a smart script by Michael Glouberman and Andrew Orenstein, a line insightful enough to make ``Bartlett's Familiar Quotations Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, often simply called Bartlett's, is an American reference work that is the longest-lived and most widely distributed collection of quotations. ,'' let alone a 2002 Fox TV series. Finally, ``The Simpsons'' opens its 14th season in typically inspired fashion with its annual installment of ``Treehouse of Horror
"Treehouse of Horror" (on screen title: "The Simpsons Halloween Special ,'' an anthology episode that manages to parody cloning, gun control and ``The Island of Dr. Moreau'' in a slender 30 minutes. A race of Homer clones? It's almost as unthinkable as Springfield reimagined as a town of animal hybrids - and just as funny. Though tonight's episode doesn't represent the series' best, it comes darn close, suggesting that ``The Simpsons'' may well defy all laws of gravity and forever retain the same high-flying hilarity it has always enjoyed. Next week's episode, in which Homer attends the Rolling Stones' rock 'n' roll rock 'n' roll: see rock music. fantasy camp, is significantly less impressive, mainly an opportunity for those on the show to hang out with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Elvis Costello, Tom Petty, Lenny Kravitz and Brian Setzer (all of whom are seen recording their lines during the credits). Not that you can blame them, but it clearly was more fun for them than it is for us. Nonetheless, its middling quality seems more an anomaly than the show's long-running endurance. THE SIMPSONS - Three and one half stars What: The animated comedy kicks off season No. 14 with its annual ``Treehouse of Horror'' anthology. Where: Fox (Channel 11). When: 8 tonight. In a nutshell: The pop-culture phenomenon remains inspired. 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. - Three and one half stars What: Fourth-season premiere finds the family at the zoo. Where: Fox (Channel 11). When: 9 tonight. In a nutshell: Wild animals everywhere. KING OF THE HILL - Three stars What: Seventh-season premiere, and Hank's as conservative as ever. Where: Fox (Channel 11). When: 8:30 tonight. In a nutshell: Continues to maintain its thoughtful humor. |
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