Common Sense Note
Parents need to know Suzanne Crumb has been released from a psychiatric hospital for running over her cheating husband, who is having a baby with a much younger woman. She's dependent on her medication and makes outlandish threats about killing her ex-husband or adopting her own young child. One of her sons is a closeted homosexual and fears his family won't accept him, but he won't accept himself, either. The two brothers fight constantly and exchange insults regularly.
Families can talk about the eccentricities of the Crumb family. Do your kids know any families that are this dysfunctional? When are family problems funny? What's the benefit of finding humor in life's hardships?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Jill Hipps
The Crumb family -- mother Suzanne (Jane Curtain), father Billy, and sons Jody and Mitch (Fred Savage) -- is in the middle of a major transition. After a messy separation between Suzanne and Billy Crumb, younger son Mitch, who has failed at becoming a writer in LA, comes home to assist in picking up the pieces. Jody has remained at home running the family business, and is full of resentment for his returning little brother.
Most teens will decide their family is downright normal after watching the wacky dynamics of the Crumbs. Jody and Mitch act like bratty kids in adult bodies. Like most adult siblings living in their parents' home, they have retreated back to acting like children -- exchanging insults and even an occasional punch in the arm. Despite their bitter and strained relationship, Suzanne and Billy still care about each other, and often try to make each other jealous. When Billy finds out that Suzanne was dating the orderly from her psychiatric ward, Billy has him fired. It's this type of quirky humor that may appeal to older kids.
That said, not every parent will appreciate this type of sarcastic and sometimes mean-spirited humor or find it appropriate for their kids. Is it funny that the mother hit the father with a car and ended up in a psychiatric hospital? Families will need to make that decision for themselves.
Regardless of how they feel about the edgy premise, viewers will agree that there are elements of the show that simply don't work -- the awkward laugh track comes to mind. Critics have written off the program as a knock-off of Arrested Development -- which is a fair assessment. Still, families who enjoy sarcastic family comedies may find some value in this show.
Families who like offbeat comedies might also enjoy How I Met Your Mother, or The Office.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentHomosexual references/a closeted character, the father has a baby with a much younger woman and brags about it. |
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ViolenceMom pulls gun on Dad (it turns out to be fake), Mom runs Dad over with a car offscreen, some physical comedy. |
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LanguageLight use of "hell," "crap." |
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Social BehaviorNobody behaves in a particularly admirable way. |
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Commercialism |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoPsychiatric meds for the mother. |
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