Family Affair

Last night I felt as if I were viewing a train wreck happening in slow motion when I chanced upon the premiere of this remake. "Family Affair" in it's original form was not so endlessly wonderful that it deserved an update but it still deserved a far better fate that this dreary attempt. It was doomed from the onset with the creepy bantering over Bill Davis's (Gary Cole) love life with today's Mr. French (Tim Curry). Both men are talented actors woefully miscast in this show which makes me wonder who greenlit this awful idea. The children are insipidly cloying and uninteresting, the sexual innuendo jokes vile and the entire premise utterly absurd. In fact, the only character with any dignity or class or even believability was the long-suffering Mrs. Beasley. Nothing on earth could compel me to tune in to watch this dreck a second time. Should be put out of it's misery so the actors might move on to better (hopefully, but you never know in Hollywood) projects.

Having only vague memories of the original Family Affair, I have nothing to compare this version to. I feel this is a great show! The whole reason I first tuned in was see Tim Curry as the picked on, put upon Mr. French. A character I feel that he does very well.

What keeps me coming back are Buffy & Jody... the primary reason Mr. French is picked on and put upon. I love the way the twins see French as the patsy for their practical jokes. Along with the fact that I think Sasha Pieterse {Buffy} is absolutely adorable.

At the same time... Caitlin Wachs is great and very cute in her roll of Cissie. As she appears to be the only sane character in the bunch. It will be interesting to see this character develop. As it is... I can see myself here week after week.

How come there are so many bad comments about such a great show? This show is a remake of the 1966-1971 series, & I think this new version is as good as the original. The only 2 surviving members of the original series, Kathy Garver & Johnny Whitaker, ever made guest appearances on this new show.

Almost anyone can comment on the fact that both adult leads (Tim Curry and Gary Cole) have stared in TV shows that failed, at three that I can think of. But this one is actually good, maybe even really good if the viewer can ignore the canned laugh track and the fact that it is really hard to do anything great with only half an hour. Sure, the characters seem really out of place on the WB, home of shows like Charmed and Angel, but maybe the idea of the family comedy/ sitcom is coming back. I never saw the original show, but this one is really very cute and charming. The chemistry is remarkably good, and the talent assembled is even better. Of course, the show is also up against Survivor and Friends, and because of that, I don't expect it to see the season through. Therefore catch it while you can! It is so worth it!

"Family Affair" may seem rather dense and insipid, but I thought it was really good. The only thing that was bad about it was the premiere, because it dragged out for an hour and brought everything together. After that the show turned out to be a breeze.

To remark such vile comments on a show which hasn't even been developed yet, is beyond me. We need to to be given the chance to explore these characters and story more before given judgment on how the original series was, because not all remakes follow the original concept, but instead try to give us a different and unique view on the modern ways and world of today.

This show has been marvelous so far, and I do enjoy Tim Curry as Mr. French. He gives the show hope and does a splendid job.