A few years ago, there was a sitcom on FOX titled "The War at Home". I feel like the only person in the world who wants to see it come back.
The show centered around a bigoted father, a caring but still flawed mother, a predictably rebellious daughter, a possibly-gay middle kid, and a just-out-of-bedwetting-stage youngest son.
There was no solace to be found as the family attacked, blackmailed, and did every bad thing imaginable to each other. The show's title was extremely self explanatory. One episode had the father encouraging one son to stand up to the other, resulting in physical fights and an emergency room trip, with the brothers going at it again by the episode's end. Another had the parents' discussion over their living wills lead to near-divorce. When the dad explained the emotional reasons for his actions, the mother replied, "You showed you were afraid by writing 'bi---' in soap on the mirror?"
And yet, it was that bleak, mean spirited outlook that gave "The War at Home" a darkly hilarious edge over most other sitcoms. Never was there a dull moment. Critics panned it, but "The War at Home" was black comedy at it's best. It was so explict in it's cynicism, so unafraid to hold nothing back with it's dark humor, that it was ahead of it's time. It's been more than two years since it went off the air. Hopefully, in ten to twenty years, it will have a cult following and people will understand the maniacal edge of it's jokes.
21 Dec 2009, 2:09 am
