The premise is this: the Goode family, consisting of Gerald and Helen Goode, their independent daughter "Bliss," their adopted son from Africa, Ubuntu (who's white -- they were initially disappointed), their vegan dog "Che" (who's a secret carnivore), and Helen's dad, the consummate conservative man's man. The plots generally revolve around how the Goodes respond to their desire to be "good" when put in opposition to various obstacles, such as the needs of their kids (e.g., Ubuntu wants to play football, Bliss doesn't want to talk about contraception), and usually involves some decision about how to square their values with reality.
The beauty of the show is that it lampoons political correctness without making uncomfortable political attacks -- in fact, Judge does a good job of hitting both the left and right pretty equally. What the show really goes after is mindless conformity. We are meant to like and sympathize with the Goode Family -- they just want to be good liberals -- environmentally friendly, socially conscientious, tolerant, and peaceful. But they get pushed on from both sides -- pressured by the extremists on the left to fit in (e.g., poor Helen is ridiculed for not having brought her own bag to an organic grocery, animal rights extremists accuse a pet rescue drive of promoting "slavery") and freaked out by extremists on the other side (e.g., abstinence movement people who have creepy dad-daughter marriage ceremonies, animal sacrifice hungry football fans). Naturally, they form a synthesis from the two opposite sides to try to be reasonable -- very similar to the way South Park's Stan synthesizes a viewpoint between uber-conservative Cartman and left-leaning Kyle.
Given the new (possibly permanent) Democratic majority, this is really a show for our times. If allowed to survive, it will serve a necessary function by checking the orthodoxy of the increasingly too-cautious entertainment industry. Three episodes in, and The Goode Family is hitting a wide range of topics, keeping the subject matter relatively light, avoiding low blows, and hiding a little subversive comedy among the safer stuff. Give it a chance.
3 comments:
So let me get this straight "King of the Hill" after staying on the air for WAY longer than it had any right to FINALLY gets cancelled, and then this environmentally friendly version of "King of the Hill" pops up in it's place. You are totally correct in the comment of this show hitting the left and right equally. But to me there lies the problem: it plays it safe, a smart move but not a very funny one. South Park & Sunny in Philly are so much better b/c they jump without a net and are far more extreme. Also (not to gloat since you seem to really like this one) but I wouldn't hold my breath about it being around much longer. The last time ABC had an animated show on Wednesdays at 9 it was called "Clerks"...it lasted 4 episodes. P.S. I must admit I did laugh pretty hard at the colored greens/colored people joke in the pilot.
I thoroughly expect it to not be given a chance. However, I have to disagree with you that it plays "too safe." Jokes on ethnic labeling, making fun of refusing to wear a flag pin, affirmative action by firing white people as opposed to hiring minorities puts it firmly in "Colbert" territory, as opposed to South Park or Sunny, which would not be able to survive on network TV, either. When Goode is cancelled, at least it'll have a chance to get picked up by Adult Swim or Comedy Central.
Quite true. I think it will be more at home on one of those channels also.
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