Grounded for Life

Review by Dann
Title screen Backyard Fun New Mustache
      If you tuned into this show in the past few weeks, congratulations. The ads looked funny, so I figured I would check it out. And since it's right before Temptation Island, I can watch TV all night. Here's my Wednesday schedule. 8:30-10:30 Accounting Lab/Class; 10:30-3:30 do nothing; 3:30-4:45 ISS480, I forget what the name of the course is; 4:45-8:30 do nothing; 8:30-9:00 Grounded for life; 9:00-10:00 Temptation Island; 10:00-11:00 Angel; 11:00-12:00 do nothing; 12:00-12:30 Street Smarts; 12:30-1:00 Unhappily ever after.

      Unhappily Ever After is on syndication on Fox, so watch it since it's so very wrong. Regardless, I saw the ad of the father throwing chicken at some kid and thought, this must be a good show, because the kid got hit in the head. No other shows would condone thowing objects at children's heads. But there's so much more.

Decapitating King Kong Only to Anger 'Guest Control' Mr. Hairplugs
      I was going to list the funny things that happen in each episode, but I honestly can't remember what happened, so I'll just ramble off whatever I can think of. Fist off, we have the father throwing chicken at a car, this startles the boy inside, but when his daughter states that it's her dad, the boy makes a break for it, and that's when the infamous shot to the face occurs. Then there's some subplot where the grandfather makes the two boys dig a hole to build character. They then tunnel out of the yard to freedom. That was sort of random.

      I tried as hard as I could to remember something that happened in the second episode, but I finally realized that I missed it. I think that was because I got Goshzilla 2000 on VCD, which is really the only excuse worth stating. So onto the third show, we have the parents, dragging the kids to a Ramones concert because it's their farwell tour and every farwell tour they have, may be their last. The older boy wants no part of it, since he has a school project. The next day, the father takes time out of work to explain to the head nun, why the project wasn't done. He ends up getting in an argument, and the boy is suspended. The boy is annoyed since he wants to go to school. Now for people in the know, you'll realize that a buy wanting to go to school, is much stranger than getting suspended by a nun for someone elses actions. But that's not important. During his time away from school, the father tries to do fun things like taking tours of the Statue of liberty, but he tries to get up into the torch and security throws him out; and the kid just wants to get back to school. Thoughout the show the kid is missing and all this info takes place via flashbacks like the other episodes. So finally the kid comes home, and it turns out he snuck back into school. How's that for craziness.

That is a duck Busting into the room This isn't part of the show, I just needed to fill the row
      The forth episode, I won't get into, because this review is getting long and boring, but it does feature an exorcism. A young priest tried to heal the older boy who saw the exorcist, and now beleives he is possessed. The father tries to help by telling him there is no satan, but that causes the younger boy to tell all his friends that there are no consequences for their actions, and they go off smashing statues of St. Francis. Back to the exorcism, the preist gets handed some holy water and sprinkles it on the boy, causing him to scream "It Burns!", but the uncle steps in and says "that's my vodka" and walks away. But everything is fine now.

      In the fifth episode, where I got these fabulous screenshots from, the daughter runs off to New Jersey with her friends, while the mother is away. The father tracks them down and we meet Mr Hairplugs and his duck badge, which is truely a disturbing sight to see. So all in all, the show treads on dangerous ground, and it's up to chance whether it will be canceled or now. I mean if Strangers with Candy got axed, what chance does anything have. That show didn't even follow the sitcom standard. Oh why cruel world! Why must we be stuck with lawyer and hospital shows that go on for 10 years, and we can't enjoy a full season of something funny. I don't know, just watch it now, or you are a nazi or a 1337 h4X0r.

Official Site