Parents

I chose to watch this show because it has two actors out of Miranda (Sally Phillips & Tom Conti) and I was curious to see them in new roles. The premise seems a good one and it tries, but somehow fails. Tom steals every scene he's in, but Sally's character is unsympathetic, as is her dumb husband. The children were underused, but easy to like. The humour was in the main forced or didn't quite work. They're aiming for heartwarming and quirky, but compared to "Miranda" or "Starlings", it falls far short. If the leads are repellent, the show is not going to live up to potential. (Nothing against Sally. She's a good actress in a poor role.) I will continue watching for sake of the supporting characters, but would not buy on DVD.

Over the last twenty years it seems that sitcoms have dwindled away and comedy in general has been ushered to past the watershed. Gone are the days when you could watch a comedy program as a family, as a child I was lucky enough to have Only Fools and Horses, Butterflies, Dad's Army, Open All Hours.... the list goes on. Today's families have very few quality programs to watch together. With the possible exception of "Miranda" on the BBC.(Coincidentally this program features two of the stars of Miranda, the incredibly talented Sally Phillips and the excellent Tom Conti) Granted, it's not going to tear up the world of comedy, but this sitcom has a lot going for it. It's very gentle, silly, and sentimental Great characters, strong relationships, smart dialogue and a lot of heart.

... but instead all I got stupid.

There simply isn't a likeable character in this series, and the female lead was easily the most irritating. Okay, I suppose we all feel like punching a colleague now and then, but we don't show up for an apology (hoping to perhaps get our job back), only to do it again. I think the idiot husband Nick must have gotten on all viewers' nerves. How does someone raise a family with no concept of finances? Nobody was remotely sympathetic. I'm thinking that Tom Conti was ready to fire his agent for being trapped in this, although part of me was glad to see he was still alive, even though he never came close to saving this series.

This show tries to kind of fit the mould of a family sitcom with a modern edge about it. In some ways it worked but in most it didn't. Sally Phillips is normally someone you can rely on to make a comedy part brilliantly funny, but I think she is let down in this by writing that makes her come across as completely self centred and unsympathetic. The best parts are probably the grandparents played by Tom Conti and Susie Blake. Although the kids are actually not too irritating for sitcom kids.

Parents was only on for one series. It didn't catch on with the viewers and I think it's because it thought of itself as a modern riff on the average British middle class family sitcom, but unfortunately just wasn't funny or edgy enough to carry it off fully.

I laughed out loud...any show that had me laughing out loud is a 10. Disappointing it only got 1 season.