O2D
Every bad sitcom cliché comes to life in one place with this terrible show.The entire set up,a young newlywed couple with a controlling female and an older married couple that doesn't care anymore, has been done a million times.The show starts out centering around the two men working together as school teachers.Because on TV,you always work with your next door neighbor.When the creators realize they have no show,they start changing everything.Without any explanation,the show starts to focus around the woman from the older couple.She suddenly has a job and that's what the show is about.Then suddenly the older guy has a new black best friend and it's J.B. Smove!He did the same move on Curb Your Enthusiasm one year earlier,another huge fail for this show. It ends up going back to the school and this time Martin Mull is there, desperately trying to save this miserable show.Did I mention that the entire time they keep changing actresses who play the older couples daughter?A total of four people play the part over four seasons and that becomes a running joke at the end.That joke is the best thing about this show. I can't believe I watched every single episode the first time they aired.
skanklover_69
This was actually quite a funny sitcom comedy for the first two season. The perky newly wed Woodcocks were in sharp contrast to the 20 year married Starks. I frequently laughed out loud and looked forward to watching it. There were plenty of pointed insights into relationships and married life in general.Then something bizarre happened in season 3. The Woodcocks their next door neighbors disappear with no explanation offered & Eddie becomes big brother to a full grown black man (an absolutely ridiculous story line). Then the black man moves in with them. Then we have a cast of black characters added on. Were the producers including Brad Garrett who is also the lead actor cynically chasing urban African American TV ratings? Would love to know the thinking behind this.The show becomes desperately unfunny immediately after that. The show then stopped after season 4. A mystery....
ksdilauri
It's been quite an experience discovering this series on Netflix, and gradually going through the seasons. The talent of the cast is pretty much beyond question, so on to the episodes themselves: they peak and tank like a roller-coaster. At times, the stories are very funny--other times they're just irritating. The Starks are not particularly nice people, and are often pretty nasty to other people and each other. Despite that,the appeal of Garrett and Fisher make you want to come back and check out the next episode. My bottom-line: the big pluses are the talent of the actors and the occasional original story idea....the minuses: the sudden disappearance of the Woodcocks, the overexposure of the one-note Kenny as the 'bestie' replacement, and the musical Allisons (all of whom are totally dissimilar in appearance and temperament. WHAT is up with that???)
tkwitcher
The show started out with a great story line and then it turned. Don't know why you went from the neighbors to Ali and Doug. I wish you could start back over and keep going with the original newlyweds. There were so many possibilities. Keep Ali as a College Student. Leave Kenny out. Just keep coming up new marital material. I like the characters of the neighbors in the beginning. I really think you had something going. I really like the two main characters and the two people who play them. Brad is great. So is his co-host. She is beautiful. I have stopped watching it though because it just gets bizarre further on in the series.
