There are two problems with reviewing a really bad TV show. One is that you have to watch a really bad TV show. The other is when you have to write the review, picking from the vast numbers of ways that present themselves to describe the badness. Because the worse something is, the more creative ways the mind presents to destroy it.
At the moment, my mind is swimming with ways of shredding Hope & Faith.
Starring Faith Ford in the title role that isn’t named "Faith" and Kelly Ripa in the role that is, this ABC Friday night sitcom is about a plastic actress, fired from a soap opera, who comes to live with her plastic sister, her cardboard husband, and their extruded plastic children in their split-level set. Nothing seems real, nobody reacts like a human, none of the comedic attempts are actually humorous, the attempt at being touching is the most mawkish and rote attempt at sitcom pilot cliche (the hard-to-live-with new house guest actually passes a Valuable Lesson on to the child, thus making the parent realize how much the guest is needed around despite their destructive presence… a hard scene to work when done well, no that there was any risk of that.)
I just sat through this show muttering "this is sooooo bad" over and over again. Unless you feel like spending a half hour doing the same, skip this show.
Note: The show apparently had a pilot where the husband was played by another actor, rather than Ted McGinley. Now, Ted can do quality work in things ranging from the serious sitcom SportsNight to the fun goof film Revenge of the Nerds, but…. well, if you click the link above, you’ll see why his coming into a cast is worrisome, at least if you’re familiar with the concept of Jumping The Shark (a meme that I think has burned through its usefulness.)
