Okay, I was wrong. It’s not that long between reviews — not because
there are any more premieres (although Sunday will see the launch of
Bram & Alice, but it will be additional days before I
can review it), but because I forgot about the one series
that had gone unreviewed: GREETINGS FROM TUSCON.
This is actually a nice if unastounding family sitcom, well designed
for the WB version of the deceased ABC TGIF line-up. While it does fit
the pattern of modern sitcom families, featuring the wacky dad and the
far more reasonable mom (a combination which I suspect arises from
male sitcom writers who picture themselves the wacky ones in their
clans), some of the chemistries are not. We’re dealing with a somewhat extended
semi-Latino family, including a spicy grandma, a ne’er-do-well uncle (performed
rather weakly, alas), the mean sister, and the young male protagonist.
This breaks no new ground, but the humor is consistently constructed,
and while the jokes and insults are peppered in, most of the humor
builds from the central premise of the episode. This won’t be the sitcom
that changes the world, but if you need something tohave on while you do
the crossword puzzle, this is better than most of the new crop.
