Pretty good series.
A well-written series with a lot of obvious chemistry between the characters, a surprising amount of laughs and a pretty smooth narrative flow that manages to use of all of the major performers in each episode and wrap things all up at the end. One of the best sitcoms that I have ever seen and I have been television for nearly 50 years.
While Brent Butt holds his own, after the first season he drops back and allows the other characters to get more airtime. This helps the series as actors Fred Ewanuick (Hank Yarbo, Eric Petersen (Oscar Leroy) and Lorne Cardinal (Davis Quinton) more than pick up any slack. While two of the female four actors are attractive, unfortunately none of them are strong enough comedic actors to hold their own in individual episodes, especially after the first season. Which BTW, is ironically, the BEST one.
The Good:
1) Funny episodes 2) Is self aware (Oscar pointing out how many different jobs the characters have had, etc.) 3) Few continuity errors 4) Doesn't rely too much on topical Canadian issues for its humor. 5) Pokes fun at all of the characters 6) Doesn't always have a "no wiser, no worse ending." 7) Never disparages the people of a rural area too badly. The residents are shown to be as intelligent as urban dwellers. 8) Has some excellent cameos (Kiefer Sutherland for one) 9) Doesn't "dumb things down" for the audience too often 10) Characters aren't complete idiots like many other sitcoms.
The bad
1) The first season is the best. The remainder have good episodes, but often have too much filler in them. 2) The female characters rarely get the best lines. This becomes even more apparent after the second season. 3) Janet Wright (Emma Leroy, the protagonist's mother) apparently suffered from some sort of illness/illnesses during the later episodes as she's shown often sitting down, and her character often seems more bitter than funny. 4) For a show whose entire main cast is adults, it clearly was toned way down after the first season. The rest of the episodes don't have much as far profanity, sexual tension, adult humor, etc. which, considering that the series is aimed at adults, is odd. 5) Tara Spencer-Nairn is the weakest link in the cast. She's very attractive; however her acting usually consists of talking loudly, mugging for the camera and walking around stiffly. And nobody seems to notice that she is the most attractive female in the small town. Umm...huh? 6) Gabrielle Miller is great in the first season, but kind of becomes a "one-note song" in most of the remaining episodes. Worst of all, her makeup is so poorly done she looks like a ghost in most of the episodes after Season 2. 7) Gabrielle Miller #2 - Her reaction shots to the characters are noticeably out of "sync" with the narrative flow. it appears as if she is delivering her lines much later than the character she's speaking to. If this was a once or twice thing, then it wouldn't be noticeable. However, it's virtually ever episode after the first season. 8) Goes heavy on the stock footage. The Leroy home's exterior is shown multiple times per episode and it's often the same stock image. Again, like Miller's acting if it was once, it wouldn't be noticeable. It's not...and it is. 9) The cameos get old.While I can understand that the series was a source fo pride to Canadians, unless you are Canadian, most of the people who appear will be complete unknowns to you. Worse, the dialogue introducing the person in the cameo is often "clunky" and more than a little trite. The first few, and several later in the series, aren't bad. The rest are varying degrees of terrible. 10) Nancy Robertson - She's the star's wife and her airtime will let you know that. While she has her moments, she's not one of the major laugh getters in the cast and that doesn't jibe with the exposure she's getting. Also her physical comedy gets tiring, as does her mugging for the camera which begins in Season 2.
Overall a decent series and again, in my opinion, the best Canadian sitcom ever.
A well-written series with a lot of obvious chemistry between the characters, a surprising amount of laughs and a pretty smooth narrative flow that manages to use of all of the major performers in each episode and wrap things all up at the end. One of the best sitcoms that I have ever seen and I have been television for nearly 50 years.
While Brent Butt holds his own, after the first season he drops back and allows the other characters to get more airtime. This helps the series as actors Fred Ewanuick (Hank Yarbo, Eric Petersen (Oscar Leroy) and Lorne Cardinal (Davis Quinton) more than pick up any slack. While two of the female four actors are attractive, unfortunately none of them are strong enough comedic actors to hold their own in individual episodes, especially after the first season. Which BTW, is ironically, the BEST one.
The Good:
1) Funny episodes 2) Is self aware (Oscar pointing out how many different jobs the characters have had, etc.) 3) Few continuity errors 4) Doesn't rely too much on topical Canadian issues for its humor. 5) Pokes fun at all of the characters 6) Doesn't always have a "no wiser, no worse ending." 7) Never disparages the people of a rural area too badly. The residents are shown to be as intelligent as urban dwellers. 8) Has some excellent cameos (Kiefer Sutherland for one) 9) Doesn't "dumb things down" for the audience too often 10) Characters aren't complete idiots like many other sitcoms.
The bad
1) The first season is the best. The remainder have good episodes, but often have too much filler in them. 2) The female characters rarely get the best lines. This becomes even more apparent after the second season. 3) Janet Wright (Emma Leroy, the protagonist's mother) apparently suffered from some sort of illness/illnesses during the later episodes as she's shown often sitting down, and her character often seems more bitter than funny. 4) For a show whose entire main cast is adults, it clearly was toned way down after the first season. The rest of the episodes don't have much as far profanity, sexual tension, adult humor, etc. which, considering that the series is aimed at adults, is odd. 5) Tara Spencer-Nairn is the weakest link in the cast. She's very attractive; however her acting usually consists of talking loudly, mugging for the camera and walking around stiffly. And nobody seems to notice that she is the most attractive female in the small town. Umm...huh? 6) Gabrielle Miller is great in the first season, but kind of becomes a "one-note song" in most of the remaining episodes. Worst of all, her makeup is so poorly done she looks like a ghost in most of the episodes after Season 2. 7) Gabrielle Miller #2 - Her reaction shots to the characters are noticeably out of "sync" with the narrative flow. it appears as if she is delivering her lines much later than the character she's speaking to. If this was a once or twice thing, then it wouldn't be noticeable. However, it's virtually ever episode after the first season. 8) Goes heavy on the stock footage. The Leroy home's exterior is shown multiple times per episode and it's often the same stock image. Again, like Miller's acting if it was once, it wouldn't be noticeable. It's not...and it is. 9) The cameos get old.While I can understand that the series was a source fo pride to Canadians, unless you are Canadian, most of the people who appear will be complete unknowns to you. Worse, the dialogue introducing the person in the cameo is often "clunky" and more than a little trite. The first few, and several later in the series, aren't bad. The rest are varying degrees of terrible. 10) Nancy Robertson - She's the star's wife and her airtime will let you know that. While she has her moments, she's not one of the major laugh getters in the cast and that doesn't jibe with the exposure she's getting. Also her physical comedy gets tiring, as does her mugging for the camera which begins in Season 2.
Overall a decent series and again, in my opinion, the best Canadian sitcom ever.
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