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.

The show has been good, seen 2 eps so far, and it shows hints of a promising future. If I was to give advice to the creators, I would say that the consistency of recognisable songs is maybe a little dense, it would be better to go instrumental and focus on the flow of the show more like inbetweeners for example. And the show could be great, it just generally needs to aim for more of a positive 'Friday night dinner' than a 'miranda' meets 'outnumbered'. Sally is definitely capable of more subtle genius, so the use of so much energy and corny atmos feels desperate, but the show is capable of such growth, and I'm happy to see new UK shows on the rise, like 'trollied' etc.

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

... 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.

I don't know why people don't like this show. I found it very good. Top notch acting with a very good story line. I think it's the British accent that throws it off for other countries, I don't know. I wish there were more seasons. I could not find in the credits the musical soundtrack which I found very good. If any one can find the titles and performers, please list them. Maybe you have to live in the UK to have access to the music. Especially songs from season one episode 6. I don't know. Could not find them on Utube usa. Anyway, don't listen to the negative reviews, give it a try. You won't be sorry.