I watched this show all the time as a kid, and had fond memories of it, so when I was scrolling through the listings and saw reruns of it, I thought I'd take a trip down memory lane. Boy was I surprised!
It was just... BAD. The writing was horrible - completely predictable w tired and not even remotely creative or funny "jokes". The acting was shockingly bad. I suppose one can make allowances for the younger actors, but even the adults were disappointing - not even on par w most regional theatre. Although, considering the quality of the script, there's really only so much they could do. But considering Kirk Cameron was such a big star at the time and grew up on camera, one would think his acting chops would be a little more solid. I honestly don't know how it stayed on the air for as long as it did. I don't know if standards were just different back then, and all family sitcoms were this cheesy and tripe-filled, or if it was uniquely cringe worthy. It's pretty much as bad as Full House was, which was definitely aimed at kids. I still don't understand why they decided to introduce the 4th kid, Chrissy (vastly changing her age overnight) fairly early on in the run. I know they introduced Leonardo DiCaprio as a last ditch effort to revive it, but that was at the end of the series. It's just another indication of how "paint-by-numbers" the entire show was.
Let this be a lesson; never go back and watch shows or movies that you liked as a kid. I mean, sure The Brady Bunch was pure kitsch, but it was written in the 70's, and while similarly so saccharine, puerile and aseptic they couldn't even show a toilet, the cheesiness and absurdity is/was part of its charm - granted I wasn't even alive for the original run, or I may have viewed it in a different light.
I feel bad giving it such a low score, and it's probably based on how much better I remember it being, but had I been an adult (or even teen) when the show was in its original run, I probably never would have watched it. Now I'm wondering just how bad Who's The Boss and other shows of the era are/were.
It was just... BAD. The writing was horrible - completely predictable w tired and not even remotely creative or funny "jokes". The acting was shockingly bad. I suppose one can make allowances for the younger actors, but even the adults were disappointing - not even on par w most regional theatre. Although, considering the quality of the script, there's really only so much they could do. But considering Kirk Cameron was such a big star at the time and grew up on camera, one would think his acting chops would be a little more solid. I honestly don't know how it stayed on the air for as long as it did. I don't know if standards were just different back then, and all family sitcoms were this cheesy and tripe-filled, or if it was uniquely cringe worthy. It's pretty much as bad as Full House was, which was definitely aimed at kids. I still don't understand why they decided to introduce the 4th kid, Chrissy (vastly changing her age overnight) fairly early on in the run. I know they introduced Leonardo DiCaprio as a last ditch effort to revive it, but that was at the end of the series. It's just another indication of how "paint-by-numbers" the entire show was.
Let this be a lesson; never go back and watch shows or movies that you liked as a kid. I mean, sure The Brady Bunch was pure kitsch, but it was written in the 70's, and while similarly so saccharine, puerile and aseptic they couldn't even show a toilet, the cheesiness and absurdity is/was part of its charm - granted I wasn't even alive for the original run, or I may have viewed it in a different light.
I feel bad giving it such a low score, and it's probably based on how much better I remember it being, but had I been an adult (or even teen) when the show was in its original run, I probably never would have watched it. Now I'm wondering just how bad Who's The Boss and other shows of the era are/were.