It's All Relative

Archie Bunker's "All in the Family" meets "Will & Grace" - with mixed results.

While this show is not as 'in your face' with it's gayness as, say "Will & Grace" or even "Ellen" (when it was on), it DOES show gays in a more normal light, but still manages to marginalize and stereotype the gay characters.... True, they seem to be more 'normal' at first glance, but then when you further dig into the characters, you find certain stereotypes still abound.... Phillip (one of the gay fathers) comes across as just TOO gay and falls into a queenie, self-righteous flaming queer. Simon is the most 'normal' gay character on the show and is more like the normal gay guy you'll meet - he's stable, has a good job, cherishes his home life, but still manages to want to party once in a while, and still can have some moments of queeniness when needed.

All in all, I do like the show and the way it represents the Gay community. The wife (Audrey) is a gem and probably one of the best characters on the show. The kids (Liz and Bobby) are fairly boring and nondescript. It seems that the only reason they exist is to join the Gay couple and the hetero couple and give them a reason to interact.

The show has it's funny moments, but the studio audience doesn't always seem to get the humor - probably due to the fact that many of the gay jokes are more subtle than 'Will & Grace' and the largely straight audience just doesn't get it. I've heard that they're trying to get more gay folks into the audience to help liven things up and provide a better laugh track to go along with the more subtle 'gay' humor.

I just hope that this show continues to grow and finds an audience. While it will never be a run away hit like 'Will & Grace', it shouldn't just fall away and die. But, it also doesn't have a 'Friends' to follow on the tails of, as W&G did. So, here's to a long run of "It's All Relative".

It's All Relative-3/5 stars

I would write the plot, but it's to confusing. Anyway, this comedy is some-what funny. Some jokes are predictable, and have been already used. But the ones I laugh at, are funny and original. I do think the writing could improve, but this is a fine show.

IAR- ***/*****

TV-PG: a few charecters are gay, and sometimes they bring that up.

I liked what we were allowed to see of this show .

I was living in Houston Texas at the time this show originally aired . It was new . The bigots only allowed the first 3 episodes to air and even though it was still listed in the TV guild they were playing Family Guy in it's place . I'd still like to see the whole series .

This episode was so very funny. Victor Garber was outstanding and so not what you would expect. There is another episode about a bathtub ham made by the mother that is great as well. The high class gay father couldn't believe that the ham was so good. He had to sneak around to eat that woman's ham. It's a shame that the ABC execs axed such a funny show. The gay fathers were portrayed by real life gay actors. They didn't seem to have a problem with the writing and were great. The straight family was so funny, the father is Archie Bunker reborn. The mother really funny and typical Boston. The freaky daughter added lots of comedy as well.

Despite its sometimes strident tone and a somewhat low laugh count, this show does represent a step forward in the treatment of homosexuality on television. That's because the gay couple isn't a meek, righteous victim of bigotry--they're just as bad as their counterpart. The confluence of the urbane, upscale gay couple with the blue-collar, old-fashioned Irish couple is often funny, and not always in the ways we might expect. I wish their children in the center of the story weren't so nondescript; with time, they might develop into something more than blandly sweet placeholders.