In so many sitcoms of the 1990s there was an episode that featured its female characters participating in self-defence classes. On one hand this can be seen as empowering for these characters, while on the other hand it’s hard to not see it as presenting the toxic fear based “tough on crime” narratives that were so popular at that time. However you you view this trope, it’s still satisfying to see all the physical comedy that inevitably ensues. Two memorable examples of this trope are the “Unagi” episode of Friends and Moe Szyslak of The Simpsons led a class in funk dancing as self-defence. One of the MANY things we liked about Hi Honey, I’m Home! was how this trope came into play and had a great payoff! Ultimately sweet and innocent Honey Neilson kicked the ASSES of a couple of home intruders.
TROPE #22: Male Trench Coat Flasher
This one is rough... clearly someone who flashes their genitals to unsuspecting people is committing sexual assault. This act was always sexual assault, but in previous eras it was often used as an edgy punchline. From Monty Python, to The Gremlins 2, this trope has unfortunately been quite prevalent. In Hi Honey, I’m Home!, the Flasher trope is used in a cringeworthy context. Sweet and innocent Honey Neilson is flashed attacked to further establish the rampant crime and seedy element of her new neighbourhood. This attack is also one of many things that pushes Honey to go to self defence class. Elaine, who introduces Honey to feminism oddly doesn’t report the flasher to authorities and explains him away as a bit of a neighbourhood nuisance.
Listen to the episode on Anchor: Hi Honey, I’m Home!
TROPE #17: Problematic Depictions of Middle Age Female, Black, and Little Person Characters
Ooooh boy leave it to an 80s sitcom to have all sorts of cringeworthy moments and token characters that would not hold up today! In The Charmings, Lillian White, the only female character (over 40) is an antagonistic “shrew.” Although presenting a middle aged woman as a villain is not inherently sexist, she is written very one-note and her evil motives are unclear. Sigh...
The magic mirror is the only black character and he is blatantly written as “magical” and his primary purpose is to help a white character. See #8 in this article about Black Character Stereotypes.
Luther, played by a little person is one of Snow Charming’s dwarf friends who is sadly treated as a gimmick or human prop and is often the subject of a punchline. These types of characters/roles have been a challenge for many LP actors over the decades. Read this article for more on Little Person actors in Hollywood.
TROPE #18: HORNY AF Mom and Dad
Snow and Eric Charming are constantly pawing at each other and making out. It’s sort of understandable because they were in that mystical coma for all those years without any contact ... but it does get real awkward to watch them drool all over each other after a while. Other horny moms and dads who embarrassed their kids were Frank and Carol Lambert on Step By Step, Gomez and Morticia Adams, and Al and Peg Bundy (although the Bundys were not necessarily horny for each other!).
TROPE #19: Multi-Generational Households
Lillian despite her toxic relationship with her Step-daughter Snow, lives with her and her family. A live-in grandparent/aunt/cousin was more common in 1980s and 1990s TV than it probably was “IRL.”
See also: Episode 6 — Davis Rules & Episode 1—Aliens in the Family
TROPE #20: The Annoying and/or Nosy Neighbour
Don 'King of Carpets' Miller, and his wife Sally embody this trope in The Charmings! The suspicious neighbours with no boundaries are hallmarks of a sitcom with a supernatural twist. They are always about to expose the family harbouring an alien (think Alf) or practicing witchcraft. These busybody characters have been around since the 1960s, one of the first examples being Gladys Kravitz on Bewitched.
I am trying to break your heart: How do you rebound from a cancelled TV show?
Justin: Fox has officially dumped Ben and Kate from its schedule.
This is what happens in TV. Shows live in state of near-death from the moment they are pitched up until the day syndication comes around. And even then, the fear is still real. But for TV fans like you and me, it's just getting harder to deal with that.
Ben and Kate was a show that made sweet and slapstick work in a way that did not leave you nauseous after 30 minutes. It followed the grand sitcom tradition of "random shit happens, let'ee where this goes," and was made better by great performances from a largely unknown cast.
Ben and Kate is my new Bent, which was my new Traffic Light, which was my new Better Off Ted, which filled the hole left in my heart from Kath & Kim, and on and on all the way back to Arrested Development. You're supposed to fall in love with shows, find the one that is right for you, and develop the kind of devotion that is sweet but borders on annoying. Why won't you just stop talking about Terriers or Last Resort? Because you are, to quote the poet, Crazy in Love.
As a TV viewer it's hard not to feel like all you're doing is holding up your end of the bargain. But what it really feels like is dating. All you want to do is meet the right person to spend some time with. But then they disappear on you, stop returning your calls, and next thing you know they're doing guest spots on ABC sitcoms and you just feel awkward.
But here's the thing. We all do it, again and again, with each new TV season. Why? Why do we do that Dennis? Talk me off the ledge.
Dennis: If I'm talking you off any ledge, big guy, it's in some sort of Riggs-like, "handcuff myself to you and throw both of us off the building" desperation move. I suppose there are smart, un-insulting, deliciously-weird and unique shows that find mainstream success...
Oh, wait, no there aren't.
For every underdog story, like Cheers persevering against truly abysmal first season ratings to become a TV behemoth, there are, well, every other example. (And I love Cheers, but it wasn't exactly groundbreaking- it just took a while to find an audience.) We've covered this ground before, and in equal frustration, but the network TV model is what it is. Talented (or not) people pitch a show, suits give it a chance, and then it's all about the money. Money comes from viewers tuning in, and if they don't, then the show goes away. We can blame the suits (and, let's face it, it's fun to do), but in the last analysis, it's all down to what the American viewing public is going to watch, get attached to, and spend their sponsors' dollars on.
And that's not Ben and Kate.
There's no reason why Ben and Kate shouldn't be successful, as much as there's no reason it should be. The creators trot their wares out there in the marketplace and hope that the shambling, dimwitted, GODDAMNED LOWBROW, LOWEST-COMMON-DENOMINATOR MASSES DECIDE IT'S WORTH AS MUCH OF THEIR TIME AS TWO-AND-A-HALF-MOTHERFUCKING MEN!!!!
I'm gonna need a moment.
Okay.
Look- I'm not saying that Ben and Kate was anything more than a funny, sweet, charming, low-key, delightfully-weird little sitcom.
But it was.
It was all of those things. And how unfeelingly, steamroller-y, mercenarily pragmatic does TV need to be to not make room for something like that? This was a good, funny, interesting show full of thoughtfully goofy touches that would make anyone with half a brain happy, and yearning for more.
Well, I have at least half a brain, and the fact that the TV landscape doesn't have room for Ben and Kate makes me tired. And sad. And...man, what's the word, J-man?
Justin: Gullible? Resilient?
You're right, of course. The market, in this case people with Nielsen boxes, decides. As always. But that doesn't mean we can't get in a funk, no matter how rational we think we are. If the people behind a TV show, or a movie, or a book, are doing the work, you should get a little wild-eyed when it gets taken away from you.
The point of fandom is to make you obsessed, right? To care so hard, so fast that you threaten to spiral out when things don't go your way. Maybe it's kind of wonderful we keep getting heartbroken by new shows every year. At best, we haven't lost hope. At worst, our memories are shot to hell.
Or, maybe, we've just internalized the annual lessons of sports fandom: Optimism, even in the face of everything else, can be the best salve.
