Review: Surviving Suburbia Series Premiere
Bob Saget Returns to Prime Time in New ABC Comedy
Apr 6, 2009
Steve Patterson is the anti-Danny Tanner. The suburbanite husband and father of two portrayed by Bob Saget in the new ABC comedy series Surviving Suburbia fantasizes about strippers, lies to his children and nearly burns down his neighbor’s house in the debut episode.
While he may forever be known as the head of the Tanner household, five minutes into his new series it is clear that Saget is no longer the kitchen-cleaning goody two shoes dad from Full House. As Patterson, Saget is ornery and unhappy for no good reason. He is grungy and irresponsible and takes credit for putting out a fire that he actually started.
Saget, Show Devoid of Humor
The problem with this new Saget is that he’s just not that funny.
Granted, Danny Tanner wasn’t a laugh riot, and as host of America’s Funniest Home Videos in the early nineties Saget uttered some of the lamest one liners this side of a Hee-Haw corn field. But at least Full House had that family-friendly charm about it, and America’s Funniest Home Videos had, well, a lady getting stuck in a dishwasher.
Surviving Suburbia has jokes like, “They call it a pocket, but they should call it a ‘lose it’” – because people always lose things they put in their pockets, apparently. Cue the toothless, overly chipper ten year-old daughter with her “Ain’t-I-cute?” delivery in an attempt to win over viewers and get the bad taste out of their mouths.
Aside from a few idiosyncrasies, the show is as formulaic as they come. This sitcom might have rolled out of the same assembly line as According to Jim and My Wife and Kids with a note attached reading, “Have the neighbor own a strip club this time.”
Co-Stars Add Little to Formulaic Sitcom
The neighbor in question is portrayed by mediocre comedy veteran Dan Cortese, who has graced prime time television with recurring roles in no fewer than five unexceptional sitcoms since 1997, most notably as Perry for three seasons of Veronica’s Closet.
It’s hard to feel sorry for Cortese or even Saget for showing up to work on such a bland, lifeless program. Their histories only prove they are no strangers to the genre. But Cynthia Stevenson, formerly of critical darling Dead Like Me and the one Bob Newhart show that nobody watched, deserves better than this.
Her talent is wasted here, and it’s disheartening to watch her make the best of the situation, instilling life into lifeless jokes such as, “I think that was Abraham Lincoln’s big issue – the keys.” Taken out of context the joke isn’t funny at all, but rest assured it was even less humorous when used in the show where it made sense.
There is a ray of hope, however. Both Dead Like Me and Bob, though popular shows, were canceled prematurely. Maybe Stevenson’s new endeavor will follow suit, though this time for all the right reasons.
With any luck, Stevenson and viewers alike won’t have to survive Suburbia for long.
